Orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs), which are administered without water, are beneficial for elderly patients and patients with dysphagia. Masking the unpleasant taste of a drug is an important factor associated with adherence of patients consuming ODTs. We prepared cocoa powder-containing ODTs of bitter-tasting rebamipide (rebamipide chocolet) and evaluated their clinical palatability. We prepared rebamipide ODTs by adding a sweetener and 0, 2.5, 5, and 10% cocoa powder (Ch0-ODTs, Ch2.5-ODTs, Ch5-ODTs, and Ch10-ODTs, respectively). Rebamipide ODTs without cocoa powder and sweetener were used as controls (Cont-ODTs). We performed a gustatory sensation test in 30 healthy adult volunteers. We used the 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) to evaluate bitterness, sweetness, scent, and overall palatability of the ODTs. The acceptability of each ODT was evaluated on a 5-point scale. Compared to Cont-ODTs, Ch0-ODTs showed no significant improvement in the VAS score for bitterness, scent, and overall palatability during disintegration. However, compared to Cont-ODTs, Ch2.5-ODTs, Ch5-ODTs, and Ch10-ODTs showed an improvement in all items evaluated using the VAS. In particular, Ch2.5-ODTs showed a significant improvement compared to the Cont-ODTs in the VAS score of all items. Evaluation on a 5-point scale indicated that Ch2.5-ODTs and Ch10-ODTs had the highest acceptability. We prepared rebamipide chocolet with excellent palatability properties, which could not be achieved using a sweetener alone, by using the combination of a sweetener and cocoa powder as a new agent for masking bitterness. Our results indicate that cocoa powder may be used as a taste-masking agent in ODTs.
Keywords: bitterness masking agent; chocolet; cocoa powder; gustatory sensation test; orally disintegrating tablet; rebamipide.