Particle and Powder Engineering Services
Uniform Powders for Dietary Supplements, Flavors, Food & Beverages
Uniform Powders for Dietary Supplements, Functional Beverages, Flavors & Sweeteners
Vitaquest specializes in particle creation and modification to deliver easy-to-handle powders for consumer product manufacturing and packaging.
Our team of “particle geeks” use various process technologies (including fluid bed, roll compaction, oscillation, milling, sieving) and techniques to improve efficiency, performance & quality of tablet, capsule & powder products.
Our comprehensive and integrated capabilities include granulation, agglomeration, microencapsulation and specialty drying to improve particle size & uniformity, powder flow, compression, mixability in solution and reproducibility of manufactured products.
Let’s innovate together and Deliver What’s Next !
Discover how Vitaquest powder and particle expertise can enhance your product’s competitive advantage in the nutraceutical, flavor & sweetener marketplace.
The Benefits of Particle Engineering
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Improve Powder Flow
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Consistently Uniform Powders
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Functionalization of Powders
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Easier Material Handling
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More Efficient Manufacturing
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Particle Size Management
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Particle Densification
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Dedusting of Powders
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Powders with Low Moisture & Water Activity
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Exact Dosing
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Product Differentiation
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Competitive Advantage
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Modify Release Properties
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Improved Stability & Shelf Life
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Standardization of Ingredients
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Apply Liquids & Powders
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Taste Masking
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End-to-end quality
Granulation
Granulation is a process that reforms particles to improve formulation, handling, manufacturing, testing and packaging of powders.
Granulation is especially important in the production of traditional, chewable & beverage tablets and capsules where particle density, compression and uniform flow are essential to producing high quality pills efficiently.
Granulated ingredients can be dust-free, enable a higher dose of actives & flavors, minimize the need for excipients and provide mouthfeel ideal for chewable tablets, functional mints & nutritional powders.
Vitaquest utilizes wet & dry granulation, tablet & roll compaction, and specialty blending to produce superior quality ingredients and consumer products for global dietary supplement markets.
Agglomeration
Agglomerated particles are lighter, less densely compacted than granulated particles, transforming powder properties and performance in a variety of applications.
Agglomeration is especially important in the production of dietary supplement drink mixes, instantized powders and sweeteners where uniform powder flow & mixability are essential.
Optically, the appearance and functionalization of agglomerated powders in single-serve stick packs, sachets, pouches and vials is important for the consumer experience.
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Get in touch with our team today to learn more about our Particle and Powder Engineering services and how we can create a custom product for your business.
Microencapsulation
Fluid bed technology enables the controlled application and mixing of liquid and dry components by spraying complete or partial coatings or multiple coating layers on a powder surface.
Microencapsulation is the technique of coating one particle with another material so that the final product takes on the properties of the coating, while delivering the benefit of the coated core.
Microencapsulation is performed by spraying a coating (which can also contain actives and flavors) onto the outside of a particle forming a protective shell and is typically utilized to modify the taste, texture, function, stability, reaction and release properties for an intended application.
Vitaquest microencapsulation experts innovate with a variety of active and sensory ingredients, flavors, sweeteners and micronutrients useful in a broad range of delivery forms including capsules, tablets, and functional food and beverages.
Air Drying
Fluid bed drying enables gentle dehydration of nutritional products under controlled conditions, resulting in highly stable products with specified moisture and water activity levels.
Air drying retains nutritional value, color & flavor of the original material and can be critical for hygroscopic powders, probiotic formulations, plant based ingredients and other materials requiring perfect moisture balance.
Particle Sizing
Uniform particle size and particle size distribution are critical for powder quality & consistency, especially when filling two-piece capsules, single-serve stick packs, sachets, pouches and tubes.
Leveraging granulation, agglomeration, roll compaction, microencapsulation, milling and sieving, Vitaquest manages particle size distribution with capabilites to increase, decrease, match, and recreate particles and custom powders based on market demands.
Complex Blending & Mixtures
Leveraging our strengths in formulation, product development, manufacturing, and quality assurance, Vitaquest provides specialty blending and mixing of liquid and powder ingredients resulting in consistent and uniform products that meet or exceed expectations.
From milligrams to truckloads, we handle micronutrients, macronutrients, plant extracts, flavors, sweeteners, aroma chemicals, lipids, and even the most challenging ingredients & dietary supplements.
Frequently Asked Questions about Particle and Powder Engineering Services:
What products benefit from granulation?
Powders with inconsistent particles, or with dusty, flighty particles may benefit from granulation. Granulated ingredients typically perform better in tablet compression and capsule applications where particle density, hardness and uniformity are essential. Granulated ingredients can also help reduce dosage and serving size of tablets and capsules.
What products benefit from agglomeration?
Powders with poor solubility and mixability benefit from agglomeration. Especially powder food & drink mixes where clumping or mixing with water is challenging. Agglomeration improves wettability, dispersion and suspension of insoluble ingredients in solution. Powders that are naturally hygroscopic or that must flow through a small orifice to be filled in stick packs or sachets also benefit from agglomeration.
What products benefit from microencapsulation?
Any ingredient that can benefit from a protective barrier coating can benefit from microencapsulation. Barrier coatings are used for taste masking & mouthfeel, to reduce ingredients stability and/or reactivity, to impact release of flavors and actives, or to otherwise modify the properties and function of a particle. Think of microencapsulation as a “force field” around a particle protecting it from external factors until desired exposure.
How does granulation, agglomeration & microencapsulation make manufacturing powder products easier?
Granulation, agglomeration & microencapsulation improve powder flow and uniformity, converting inconsistent particles into uniform powders. Uniform powders enable manufacturing and packaging equipment to run more efficiently, reducing downtime.
How does granulation, agglomeration & microencapsulation deliver a better consumer product experience?
Granulated, agglomerated & microencapsulated products typically look, feel & perform better than unprocessed powders. They are less clumpy, dusty, variable and are visually way more appealing than unprocessed powders.
