Advantages of microencapsulation:
1. To mask the bitter taste of drugs like Paracetamol, Nitrofurantoin etc.
2. To reduce gastric and other gastro intestinal (G.I) tract irritations, For eg., sustained release.
3. A liquid can be converted to a solid for easy handling and storage,
4. Hygroscopic properties of core materials may be reduced by microencapsulation.
5. Protection against external environment.
6. Microencapsulation has been employed to provide protection to the core materials
7. Separation of incompatible substance has been achieved by encapsulation.
Different methods of microencapsulation:
1) Pan Coating
2) Fluidized bed Coating
3) Coacervation
4) Electrostatic Deposition
5) Vacuum deposition
6) Polymerization
7) Multiorific Centrifugal Process.