Application of the Near-infrared Spectroscopy in the Pharmaceutical Technology

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is currently the fastest-growing and the most versatile analytical method not only in the pharmaceutical sciences but also in the industry. This review focuses on recent NIR applications in the pharmaceutical technology. This article covers monitoring, by NIR, of many manufacturing processes, such as granulation, mixing or drying, in order to determine the end-point of these processes. In this paper, apart from basic theoretical information concerning the NIR spectra, there are included determinations of the quality and quantity of pharmaceutical compounds. Some examples of measurements and control of physicochemical parameters of the final medicinal products, such as hardness, porosity, thickness size, compression strength, disintegration time and potential counterfeit are included. Biotechnology and plant drug analysis using NIR is also described. Moreover, some disadvantages of this method are stressed and future perspectives are anticipated.