Patent ID: 8883307

Claim:
A powder consisting essentially of spherical particles of crystalline mannitol having an aspect ratio of 1.0 to 1.2, an oil absorption rate 1 of 25 to 60% and an oil absorption rate 2 of 15 to 40% according to test method A, wherein the powder has a mean particle diameter of 15 to 165 μm and a loose bulk density of 0.35 to 0.60 g/mL, wherein the test method A comprises: adding 30 g of middle chain fatty acid triglyceride and 15 g of the powder, (together referred to hereinafter as “the sample”) to a 100 ml glass beaker; stirring the sample with a spatula gently enough to avoid crushing of fine particles; introducing the sample into a vacuum constant temperature dryer for three hours at a room temperature at a pressure reduced down to 0.67 pascals; pouring the sample into a centrifuge tube having openings at bottom with a filter cloth of 325 meshes laid inside; centrifuging the centrifuge tube containing the sample by a centrifuge for 10 minutes at about 1300 G; obtaining the weight, in grams, of the powder remaining in the centrifuge tube after centrifugation (W 1 ); placing the centrifuge tube containing the powder remaining after centrifugation into another 100 ml glass beaker and adding 20 g of n-hexane onto the powder, centrifuging the centrifuge tube for 10 minutes at about 1300 G; obtaining the weight, in grams, of the powder remaining in the centrifuge tube after the second centrifugation (W 2 ), wherein the oil absorption rate 1 and the oil absorption rate 2 are given the following formulas: oil absorption rate 1(%)=[( W 1 −15)/15]·100 oil absorption rate 2(%)=[( W 2 −15)/15]·100.