State of the Art and Development Trends in Obtaining Fast-Dissolving Forms of Creatine Monohydrate

TL;DR

This paper reviews methods to improve the solubility of creatine monohydrate for faster-dissolving forms.

Contribution

The study highlights the effectiveness of combining physical methods to enhance creatine monohydrate solubility.

Findings

Chemical methods dominate in patents for improving creatine solubility.

Physical methods and combinations can enhance dissolution rate and stability.

Abstract

Creatine monohydrate is known for its moderate solubility (13 g/L at 25 °C), which limits the feasibility of producing its fast-dissolving forms. Overcoming this limitation is possible through the application of technological approaches, the overview of which is presented in this work, including chemical modification, micronization, granulation, amorphization, formation of solid dispersions, and encapsulation. The results showed the predominance of chemical methods (about 60% of the analyzed patents). At the same time, the use of physical methods and the combination of several technologies can increase both the dissolution rate and the solubility of creatine monohydrate while maintaining its stability. This makes these approaches the most promising for the development of production technology for fast-dissolving forms.