Basic Tests for Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms

Basic Tests for Pharmaceutical Substances presents simplified tests for verifying the identify of pharmaceutical substances and detecting gross degradation. The 321 substances covered represent the majority of drug substances contained in the WHO Model List of Essentials Drugs as well as a number of other widely used drug substances. For each, tests have been devised to serve as a simple and readily applicable method of verification of identify when a fully equipped laboratory is not available. The required reagents and equipment have been kept to a minimum, and reagents that are unstable, corrosive, expensive, or difficult to obtain have been excluded.

Special attention is given to the techniques used to determine melting characteristics, as these provide a basis not only for confirming the identity of a substance but also for detecting possible contamination, whether, arising from poor manufacture, adulteration, cross-contamination during storage, or degradation. The book concludes with a list of required equipment and a description of the reagents, test solutions and volumetric solutions used in the basic tests.