Pharmaceutical aids are the substances which have no or little pharmacological effect but they are essentially used in the preparation of pharmaceutical dosage form (like tablet, injection, emulsion, ointments etc).

Pharmaceutical aids may be required for such purposes as preservations, stabilization, acidification, alkalization, suspending, excipient, adsorption, absorption, filtration, prevention of oxidation, stabilization, complexation etc.

Pharmaceutical aids may remain in the final product in which case they do not exert any specific action on the body when the product is administrated or they may get removed during processing but come in close contact with the product at some stage. Many times pharmaceutical aids are referred to as “pharmaceutical necessities”. It is essential that pharmaceutical aids should be of same quality as therapeutic agent and are subject to similar quality controls.

Classification of Pharmaceutical Aids

Various pharmaceutical aids are classified into various categories which are given as follows:

• 1.    Acidifiers and alkalisers.
• 2.    Buffers.
• 3.    Absorbents and adsorbents.
• 4.    Antioxidants and preservatives.(In syllabus of D.Pharm 2022 new pattern)
• 5.    Desiccants.
• 6.    Excipients.
• 7.    Suspending agents.
• 8.    Filter aids.
• 9.    Colorants.
• 10. Tonicity adjusting agents.
• 11. Solvent and vehicle.
• 12. : Organoleptic agent: Coloring, flavoring and sweetening agents. (In syllabus of D.Pharm 2022 new pattern)
• 13. Ointments and suppository bases.
• 14. Diluents, binders, disintegrating agents and lubricants

1. Organoleptic agents

2. Preservatives

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