Formulation and Evaluation of Vasaka Lozenges for Cough and Sore Throat

Introduction: Lozenges, also known as troches or pastilles, are flavoured medicated dosage forms that dissolve slowly in the mouth, delivering active ingredients locally to the oropharyngeal region or systemically via buccal absorption. First introduced in the early 20th century, they remain widely used due to their palatability and ease of use, especially for patients who have difficulty swallowing tablets or capsules. Commonly used to treat sore throats, coughs, and oral infections, lozenges are typically prepared through moulding or compression techniques. The present study focuses on the formulation and evaluation of herbal hard lozenges containing Vasaka for the treatment of sore throat. Materials and Methods: The direct heat method was employed to prepare lozenges having Vasaka as the key ingredient. The lozenges were further characterized by various evaluation parameters such as organoleptic properties, friability, hardness, weight variation, drug release, moisture content, and mouth-dissolving time. Results: The dissolution test revealed that in-vitro drug release was 93.8% approximately in 30 minutes. After stability studies, the lozenges displayed no significant variations when evaluated for friability, weight variation, or thickness for a 6-month period. The moisture content of lozenges was found to be 0.98%, but the formulation was slightly sticky at room temperature, maybe because of the thermal sensitivity of some ingredients. Discussion: The Vasaka Lozenges meant for treating sore throats were prepared successfully and passed all the test parameters. Conclusion: The Vasaka lozenges can be effectively used for the management of sore throat, as exhibited by the findings. The hard candy lozenges can be an effective dosage form for improving the stability and bioavailability of Vasaka.