Highly impact-resistant granules

Abstract

The present invention provides highly impact-resistant, water-soluble or water dispersible, low-dust granules comprising an active ingredient and methods for obtaining the same.

1 . A highly impact-resistant granule comprising a) an impact-sensitive particle including an active ingredient and b) a flexible film comprising a polymer surrounding said impact-sensitive particle, 
 wherein said film has an elongation upon break of at least about 30% and said film comprises less than about 20% by weight of the highly impact-resistant granule,    wherein said impact-sensitive particle has more than about 10% mass attrition and said highly impact-resistant granule has less than about 5% mass attrition.    
   
   
       2 . The granule of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of PVA, gelatin and modified starch.  
   
   
       3 . The granule of  claim 2 , wherein the film further comprises a gelling agent.  
   
   
       4 . The granule of  claim 1 , wherein the film comprises PVA, glycerol and a gelling agent.  
   
   
       5 . The granule of  claim 1 , wherein the active ingredient is a protein or peptide.  
   
   
       6 . The granule of  claim 5 , wherein the protein is an enzyme.  
   
   
       7 . A highly impact-resistant granule comprising, a core, an active ingredient, and a water-soluble or water-dispersible flexible film comprising a polymeric material surrounding said core and active ingredient, wherein said flexible film is less than about 20% by weight of the granule, and the elongation upon break is greater than about 30%.  
   
   
       8 . The granule of  claim 7 , wherein the active ingredient is in a layer surrounding the core.  
   
   
       9 . The granule of  claim 7 , further comprising an intermediate coating layer surrounding the core and active ingredient wherein said intermediate coating layer is surrounded by said flexible film.  
   
   
       10 . The granule of  claim 7 , wherein the flexible film comprises less than 10% by weight of the granule.  
   
   
       11 . The granule of  claim 7 , wherein the flexible film is less than about 20 microns.  
   
   
       12 . The granule of  claim 7 , wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohols, gelatin, modified starches, polyethylene glycols, polyvinyl pyrroldidones, cellulose ethers and derivatives and copolymers thereof.  
   
   
       13 . The granule of  claim 12 , wherein the polymer is a polyvinyl alcohol and derivatives thereof.  
   
   
       14 . The granule of  claim 7 , wherein the film further includes a plasticizer.  
   
   
       15 . The granule of  claim 7 , wherein the film further includes a gelling agent.  
   
   
       16 . The granule of  claim 14 , wherein the plasticizer is selected from the group consisting of glycerol, propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, sugars, and sugar alcohols.  
   
   
       17 . The granule of  claim 7 , wherein the active ingredient is a protein or peptide.  
   
   
       18 . The granule of  claim 17 , wherein the active ingredient is an enzyme.  
   
   
       19 . The granule of  claim 18 , wherein the enzyme is selected from the group consisting of proteases, cellulases, amylases, lipases, and cutinases.  
   
   
       20 . The granule of  claim 7  further comprising an over-coating surrounding said film.  
   
   
       21 . The highly impact-resistant granule of  claim 7 , wherein the flexible film is less than about 10 microns.  
   
   
       22 . A flexible film coating for an enzyme granule comprising a polymeric material, wherein said polymeric material i) surrounds a particle including an active ingredient, ii) is less than about 20% by weight of the granule, and iii) has an elongation upon break of at least about 30%, at least about 50%, at least about 100%, at least about 125%, at least about 150%, and at least about 200%.  
   
   
       23 . The flexible film of  claim 22 , wherein the granule has a RIT dust value of less than about 100,000 ng/g.  
   
   
       24 . A method for producing a highly impact-resistant granule comprising the steps of 
 a) obtaining a water-soluble or water dispersible flexible film which comprises a polymer having an elongation upon break of at least 30%, at least about 50%, at least about 100%, at least about 125%, at least about 150%, and at least about 200%;    b) obtaining a core material and active ingredient wherein the active ingredient is either incorporated into the core or in a layer surrounding the core;    c) casting the flexible film of step a) onto the product of step b) to produce a granule wherein the flexible film comprises about 20% or less by weight of the granule and said granule has an RIT dust value of less than about 100,000 ng/g.    
   
   
       25 . A method for making a highly-impact resistant enzyme-containing granule, said method comprising: 
 a) selecting a suitable core material;    b) coating the core of step a) with an enzyme layer comprising one or more enzymes selected from the group consisting of proteases, cellulase, amylases, and lipases; and    c) casting a water-soluble or water-dispersible film comprising a polyvinvyl alcohol polymer and a glycerol plasticizer to the product of step b) wherein said film as an elongation upon break of about 30% or more to produce a granule having an RIT dust value of 100,000 ng/g or less.    
   
   
       26 . A highly impact-resistant granule produced according to the method of  claim 24 .  
   
   
       27 . A highly impact-resistant granule produced according to the method of  claim 25 .  
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 24  wherein in step d) the flexible film comprises about 10% or less by weight of the granule.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 23  wherein in step c), the flexible film cast on the product has a thickness of about 20 microns.  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 23  wherein in step c), the flexible film cast on the product has a thickness of about 15 microns.