A novel collagenase-assisted extraction of active pharmaceutical ingredients from gelatin products for quantitative...

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is frequently used for quantifying drugs in gelatin capsules. Gelatin has a strong UV absorption that often overlaps with drug absorbances. Therefore, the gelatin capsules must be removed manually before analysis. This study describes a novel extraction method named collagenase-assisted extraction (CAE), which uses collagenase to degrade gelatin into fragments with reduced hydrophobicity, allowing gelatin-related peaks to elute immediately, eliminating interference with the drug peak and enabling use of whole gelatin capsules during drug quantification. Use of CAE eliminates powder loss when opening a gelatin capsule, allows extraction of drugs from the capsule, reduces analytical time, and extends HPLC column life.