Antartic krill oil is rich in astaxanthin and Omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA therefore can be used as highly profitable diet supplements. Recently soft capsules have been commonly used to contain oil-soluble health-care food, and the optimization of the formula for soft capsule shell is one of the key factors in the product development. In this study we measured the dissolution rate as a parameter to determine the optimal formula for the soft-gelatin capsule shell. We used tartrazine as the indicator and selected 424 nm as the absorption wavelength. We then established a linear regression equation between the concentration of tartrazine and its absorbance. The orthogonal method was employed to test four factors in the formula of soft capsule shell: the ratio of gelatin to glycerol, the ratio of water to gelatin, the percentage of sorbitol, and the percentage of fumaric acid. In each factor three levels were set up and tested. The dissolution rates of various soft-gelatin capsule shells were obtained according to the Noyes-Whitney equation. The results showed that the dissolution rate reached the maximum value when the ratio of water, glycerol and gelatin was 0.8 : 1 : 0.5 and the percentages of sorbitol and fumaric acid were 3% and 0.7% respectively. The verification test also revealed that the dissolution rate of this formula was very close to the maximum dissolution rate in the orthogonal experiment. Our optimized formula will provide important scientific data for the design of Antartic krill oil soft capsules and other oil-soluble soft capsules.%南极磷虾油不仅含有丰富的w-3脂肪酸(如EPA、DHA)，而且富含虾青素，可以开发成高附加值的保健食品南极磷虾油软胶囊。软胶囊囊皮配方的设计与优化，是软胶囊研制过程中的重要环节。本研究利用正交设计的实验方法，以柠檬黄为指示剂，考察了不同配方胶囊囊皮的溶出速率，筛选出最佳的囊皮配方。结果表明，当水∶甘油∶明胶为0.8∶1∶0.5、山梨醇用量为3%、富马酸用量为0.7%时，胶皮的溶解速率最大。该研究结果对南极磷虾油等油溶性软胶囊类产品的开发具有指导意义。
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