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Research Article
Rane et al. EUROPEAN JOURNAL European
OF PHARMACEUTICAL
Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research
ISSN 3294-3211
AND MEDICAL RESEARCH
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SIGNIFICANCE OF BRIX READING IN DETERMINATION OF QUALITY OF ORAL

SYRUP AND SEMISOLID FORMULATIONS

Rajashree Rane1*, Divya Hattangadi2, Prajakta Jadhav3, Sachin Kundalwal4, Chetna Chotalia5, Ashish Suthar6
1*
Group Leader, 2Junior Research Scientist, 3Research Associate, 4Senior Research Scientist, 5Deputy General Manager,
6
General Manager
Phytomedicine Division, Piramal Phytocare Ltd., 1, Nirlon Complex, Off Western Express Highway, Goregaon (E),
Mumbai 400063, Maharashtra, India.
*Correspondence for Author: Rajashree Rane
Group Leader, Phytomedicine Division, Piramal Phytocare Ltd., 1, Nirlon Complex, Off Western Express Highway, Goregaon (E), Mumbai
400063, Maharashtra, India.

Article Received on 29/11/2015 Article Revised on 20/12/2015 Article Accepted on 11/01/2016

ABSTRACT
The study is aimed to determine the application of Brix Reading to control the quality of oral herbal syrup and
semisolid formulations, by focusing on other relevant parameters such as TS (Total solids), weight per ml in syrup
and LOD (Loss On Drying) at 1050C in semisolid formulations. Also tried to show the interrelations of these
parameters by analyzing few lots of ten different brands of herbal syrup formulations and semisolid formulations
such as three types of Citrospreads and four different flavored jam samples. In sugar base syrup formulations brix
reading was found in the range of 50 degree to 70 degree brix. Which was observed to be almost matching with
total solids in %w/w of corresponding sample and in sugar-free syrup sample, it was found to be around 40 in one
set and around 55 degree brix in rectified set, as in the formula sugar is replaced by sucralose and 70% sorbitol.
Quantity of xanthan gum is adjusted to maintain the density of the syrup. In semisolid formulations like
citrospreads and jam samples the sum total of degree brix and Loss on Drying (LOD) at 1050C was almost 100.
This way one can make use of these parameters as quality determining factors to maintain the batch to batch
consistency of different liquid and semisolid formulations.

KEYWORDS: Brix reading, Total Solids, Weight per ml, LOD.

INTRODUCTION minerals, amino acids, proteins, hormones, and other

Drugs or nutraceutical formulations exist in different solids in one hundred pounds of any particular plant
forms. Various formulations are available as per the juice.
compositions. It is very important to check the efficacy
and bioavailability of the drug for getting better BRIX varies directly with plant QUALITY. For instance,
medicinal effect. This can be achieved by estimating the a poor, sour tasting grape from worn out land can test 8
analytical marker or biomarker present in the or less brix. On the other hand, a full flavored, delicious
formulation. However, it is equally important to maintain grape, grown on rich, fertile soil can test 24 or better
the physical status of the formulations like syrup and brix.
semisolid forms by evaluating batch to batch consistency
of these samples. Sample of desired consistency will In syrup formulations, specific gravity or weight per ml
assure the palatability and will indirectly support the of the liquid as well as total solids and degree brix
assigned shelf life. determine the density or thickness of the syrup which in
turn decides the consistency of the product.
Professor A. F. W. Brix was a 19th Century German
chemist (b.1798, d.1890). He was the first to measure the Degree brix is the ratio of total soluble solids to water in
density of plant juices by floating a hydrometer in them. solution. Higher brix means[2] higher nutrient density
BRIX is a measure of the percent solids (TSS) in a given (assumption), better taste (widely acknowledged),
weight of plant juice---nothing more---and nothing resistance to rotting, resistance to disease, resistance to
less[1]. frost, that is higher quality.

Brix is often expressed another way: Brix equals the Dissolved solids affect both density and refractive index
percentage of sucrose. For, indeed, the brix is actually a or brix reading of a liquid. Thus when the concentration
summation of the pounds of sucrose, fructose, vitamins, of sugar in water is increased, the density and refractive

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Rane et al. European Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research

index or brix reading increases. In this way density and mango, strawberry and mixed fruit jams were subjected
brix reading can be used to determine solute to quantitative evaluation.
concentration in a binary system.
Chemicals and Reagents: All the chemicals and
Food products can contain many types of sugar and other reagents used in different processes were procured from
soluble components such as acids, salts, color and flavor M/s Merck India and M/s Qualigens. Reagents were
agents. However, the Brix scale is used regardless of the standardized as per the standard pharmacopoeia.
composition of the aqueous phase. Strictly speaking, for
non-sucrose based products, measurements should Equipments and Instruments: All the glassware used
perhaps be expressed as „apparent Brix‟[3] or „sucrose were well calibrated and were procured from M/s Borosil
equivalents‟. Glass Works Ltd. Instruments used were weighing
balance (M/s Schimadzu Corporation), Electric oven and
The fruit jam will have a definite amount of total soluble Water bath (M/s Pathak Electrical Works Ltd.).
solids. Soluble solids can be determined by means of
brix hydrometer, which measures the specific gravity. The most important, easy to operate instrument used here
Degree brix can be recorded on Abbe‟s refractometer. was “Abbe‟s Refractometer from M/s Rajdhani.
Degree brix is a measure of soluble solids only in the
case of pure sucrose solution. Generally fruit juice
contain more sugar than any other soluble constituents.
Hence degree brix provides useful guide of soluble solids
or sugar content. Soluble solids other than sucrose do not
affect specific gravity. Sahni et al[4] have reported TSS in
pineapple, apple, plum, orange and mango fruit as 9.00,
12.00, 16.00, 10.00 and 20.00 respectively. It is quite
evident that for a fruit juice or pulp which has higher
percentage of moisture, the brix reading will be lower.
The brix reading indirectly indicates TSS as well as
amount of sugar or the sweetness of final product. In
order to obtain the correlation between percentage
moisture content in the form of loss on drying and degree
brix, a statistical treatment was given and the regression METHODS
equation was obtained as 0Brix = 80.2 – 0.342 LOD with Weight per ml
correlation coefficient (-0.559). 31.3% variation in A thoroughly cleaned and dried calibrated[5] pycnometer
moisture content is explained by degree brix. was filled with freshly boiled and cooled water at 25°C
and its content was weighed. (The density of water is
Various categories of sugar based herbal syrups, sugar 0.99602 g at 25°C). The capacity of pycnometer
free herbal syrup samples were prepared as per the (normally it is 25 ml) was calculated. Gently the
specified formulae and subjected to analysis. Also pycnometer was filled with homogenous syrup sample,
semisolid formulations like Citrospread and jams with allowed to attain the temperature (25°C) and it was
different flavours were taken for the study. weighed with the content. The process was repeated
three times and the average value was recorded. The
MATERIALS AND METHODS weight/ml was calculated by applying the formula as,
Weight per ml, brix reading, and total solids in % w/v
were practically estimated in all syrup formulations Weight / ml (g/ml) = (B – A) / wt/ml factor of
under study, by applying stated pharmacopoeial pycnometer.
methods. Similarly, semisolid formuations like Where, A:- Weight of the pycnometer in g
citrospreads and jam samples were analysed for Loss On B:- Weight of the pycnometer + syrup sample in g
Drying at 1050C (LOD) and brix reading.
Total Solids
Samples: Three lots of total nine different types of sugar 5ml of syrup sample was accurately pipetted out from the
based samples namely Appetite stimulant syrup, homogenous syrup sample, with the help of previously
Bronchodilator cough syrup, Anti-stress syrup, Anti- calibrated pipette, in a dry previously weighed petridish
pyretic syrup, Immunomodulator syrup, Memory and it was evaporated on a water bath at 100°C
enhancing syrup, Hepatoprotective, syrup, Anti-allergic temperature for about half an hour. Sample in the
cough syrup and Anti spasmodic cough syrup along with petridish was dried in an oven at 1050C temperature for
three lots of two different categories of sugar free cough about 6 to 7 hours. Then it was allowed to attain the
syrup samples were chosen for this study. Amongst room temperature in a desiccator and weighed till
semisolid fomulations three types of Citrospread samples constant weight.
and four different flavored jam samples like pineapple, “Total Solids” in Percentage weight /volume was
calculated by applying the following formula:

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Rane et al. European Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research

Total Solids %w/v = (C – A) X 100 / (B) temperature as mentioned in the pharmacopoeia by

Where, A :- weight of empty petridish in g. appropriately adjusting the light rays with the help of the
B :- Aliquot of sample pipetted out in ml mirror situated at the bottom floor. The process was
C :- Weight of petridish + syrup sample (After drying) repeated for minimum three times and the average
reading was recorded as the final “brix reading.”
Loss On Drying at 1050C
Semisolid form of citrospread and jam samples were Application of “Brix reading” and its relation with total
thoroughly mixed. About 2 to 3g homogenous uniform soluble solids is explained thoroughly in fruit juices[7],
sample was accurately weighed in a previously cleaned jams, jellies and so on.
and dried loss on drying (LOD) bottle, The sample was
allowed to dry in an oven at 1050C for about 3 to 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
hours, till the constant weight. The weight at every step Weight per ml, total solids in % w/v and brix reading
was recorded, and loss on drying was calculated by values in all herbal syrup samples were practically
applying the formula as, evaluated and findings are recorded in Table 1. Also total
solids in %w/w for each syrup sample was calculated by
Loss On Drying at 105°C %w/w) = (B – C) X 100 / (B – considering the weight per ml value of corresponding
A) syrup sample.
Where, Total solids in %w/v (By considering corresponding Brix
A:- Weight of empty LOD bottle in g reading) can be calculated as…
B:- Weight of LOD bottle with sample before drying in g Total solid in %w/v = Brix Reading ( B ) x weight per ml
C :- Weight of LOD bottle with sample after drying to (A )
constant weight in g. Total solids in %w/w can be calculated by applying
corresponding weight per ml as….
Brix Reading Total solids in %w/w = Total solids in %w/v (C) / weight
A drop of the homogenous syrup / semisolid sample per ml (A)
formulation was gently loaded on the prism of the Where, (A)  Weight per ml in g/ml
previously calibrated[6] suitable refractometer. The (B)  Brix reading in degree brix
reading on the brix scale was recorded at ambient (C)  Total solids in %w/v

Table 1: Weight per ml, total solids and degree brix in oral herbal syrup formulations

Brix
Lot Weight reading Total solids
Sr. No. Product Total solids (%w/v)
Number per ml (degree (%w/w)
brix)
WRT
WRT Brix Practical
Practical weight per
Rdg By Brix
Syrup Formulations (A) (B) findings ml. by
calculation reading
(C) calculation
(B) x (A)
(C)/(A)
APR1 1.276 65.00 82.092 82.94 64.33 65.00
Appetite stimulant
1 APR2 1.274 64.00 81.092 81.54 63.65 64.00
syrup
APR3 1.275 64.00 81.100 81.60 63.61 64.00
BRO1 1.256 56.00 68.810 70.33 54.78 56.00
Anti-allergic cough
2 BRO2 1.239 53.00 63.490 65.66 51.24 53.00
syrup
BRO3 1.256 55.00 69.380 69.08 55.24 55.00
Anti-allergic SF BRS1 1.121 38.00 33.240 42.59 29.65 38.00
3A cough syrup - BRS2 1.125 40.00 38.570 45.00 34.28 40.00
category 1 BRS3 1.123 40.00 34.250 44.92 30.50 40.00
Anti-allergic SF - BRSE1 1.204 48.00 54.550 57.79 45.31 48.00
3B cough syrup BRSE2 1.195 49.00 54.844 58.55 45.89 49.00
(category 2) BRSE3 1.190 48.50 56.64 57.71 47.59 48.50
DOR1 1.307 66.00 84.970 86.26 65.01 66.00
4 Anti-stress syrup DOR2 1.307 65.50 85.370 85.61 65.32 65.50
DOR3 1.322 68.00 90.520 89.90 68.47 68.00
FEV1 1.274 60.00 78.000 76.44 61.22 60.00
5 Anti- pyretic syrup FEV2 1.270 59.00 72.650 74.93 57.20 59.00
FEV3 1.264 58.00 70.670 73.31 55.90 58.00
Immunomodulator IMN1 1.231 55.00 67.718 67.70 55.01 55.00
6
syrup IMN2 1.237 54.00 64.984 66.79 52.53 54.00

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Rane et al. European Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research

IMN3 1.243 54.00 68.550 67.12 55.15 54.00

INT1 1.246 60.00 73.074 74.76 58.65 60.00
Memory enhancing
7 INT2 1.217 56.00 67.016 68.15 55.07 56.00
syrup
INT3 1.260 58.00 73.500 73.08 58.33 58.00
PHY1 1.254 60.00 72.876 75.24 58.11 60.00
8 Phyleclip syrup PHY2 1.232 57.00 66.370 70.22 53.87 57.00
PHY3 1.253 57.00 74.952 71.42 59.82 57.00
TUS1 1.243 56.00 68.662 69.61 55.24 56.00
9 Anti -allergic syrup TUS2 1.257 57.00 70.840 71.65 56.36 57.00
TUS3 1.248 57.00 70.710 71.14 56.66 57.00
KHA1 1.262 61.00 74.860 76.98 59.32 61.00
10 Anti-spasmodic syrup KHA2 1.267 60.00 73.610 76.02 58.09 60.00
KHA3 1.218 52.00 60.642 63.33 49.79 52.00

Practical value of Total solids in %w/v can be converted value of total solids in %w/w vary considerably, which
to %w/w by applying weight per ml of corresponding can be further adjusted by increasing the concentration of
syrup sample. From the recorded findings it is clearly sweeteners and xanthan gum, as shown in the category 2.
seen that the syrup sample containing dissolved sugar,
shows the maximum resemblances with corresponding Resemblances in the brix reading and total solids in
brix reading value and the value of total solids in %w/w. %w/w in sugar based syrup formulation is well
However, in sugar free syrup samples with other illustrated in figure 1.
artificial sweeteners, the results of brix reading and the

Fig.1: Brix reading and Total solids in %w/w in sugar based syrup formulations.

Difference in brix reading and total solids is observed in Effect of the same can be clearly seen in figure 2A and
Anti allergic sugar free (SF) cough syrup where instead 2B respectively. Samples of category 2 depicted in
of sugar, honey, sucralose, 70% sorbitol and xanthan Figure 2B have increased amount of xanthan gum
gum are added. Whereas, in second category of sugar compared to category 1 reflected in figure 2A, for
free syrup sample, amount of 70% sorbitol and xanthan adjusting the consistency equivalent to sugar base syrup
gum is increased to maintain the consistency of syrup. samples.

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Rane et al. European Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research

Fig. (2A) Fig. (2B)

This was observed from the data recorded in table 1, that xanthan gum in the syrup formulation make the
total solids in sugar based syrups varies from 50%w/w to consistency equivalent to that of sugar based syrup.
70%w/w as per the formula and concentration of sugar in Hence brix reading is reached upto 50 degree, and
base preparation, Accordingly the value of brix reading practical finding of total solids seems to be aroud
also changes in corresponding syrup samples. 55%w/w.

In case of Anti-allergic sugar free (SF) cough syrup, brix Table 2, shows the relationship between moisture content
reading in category 1 is found to be about 40 degree, in in the form of loss on drying (LOD) at 105 0C and
which actual practical finding for total solids in %w/w is average brix readings observed in different lots of
found to be around 30. This does not resemble to the semisolid sugar based formulations such as Citrospreads
theoritically expected value. However, in category 2, fortified with individual herb and different flavored jam
quantity of increased amount of 70% sorbitol and samples.

Table 2: Loss on drying and brix reading in sugar based semisolid formulations.
Average Average value Average Residue on
Sr. Lot
Product Brix reading of Loss On drying (%w/w)
No. Number
(degree brix) drying (%w/w) (100-LOD)
1 Citrospread (Balya) CIT1 69.50 30.67 69.33
2 Citrospread (Hridya) CIT2 71.00 29.77 70.23
3 Citrospread (Medhya) CIT3 69.50 31.17 68.83
4 Jam sample (Pinapple Flavor) JPAF 72.00 27.17 72.83
5 Jam sample (Mango Flavor) JMAF 71.00 26.17 73.83
6 Jam sample (Strawberry Flavor) JSTF 70.00 25.97 74.03
7 Jam sample (Mixed fruit Flavor) JMIF 70.50 27.58 72.42

Average brix values are found in the range of 69 degree Adsule[8], where he has given the inverse relations
to 72 degree, which are inversely proportional to the between moisture and total soluble solids. Brix value and
moisture content in the form of loss on drying (LOD) at moisture content in all semisolid formulations are
1050C. This is in conformity with the findings of depicted in the figure 3.

Fig. 3: Relationship of Average brix reading with LOD in semisolid formulations

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Rane et al. European Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research

Average value of residue on drying was calculated by average residue on drying is found to be almost similar
deducting the corresponding practical value of loss on in respective samples. This is well illustrated in the
drying in %w/w from 100. Average brix reading and figure 4.

Fig. 4: Average brix reading and average residue on drying (%w/w) in semisolid formulations

Barry et al[9] used the TS meter, a temperature ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

compensated hand refractometer of recent development The authors are thankful to the authorities of Piramal
for determination of total solids of human sera and other Enterprises Ltd., Goregaon R& D center for providing
body fluids. A correlation was made between the laboratory facilities and encouragement. Staff members
refractometer reading for total serum solids and total of patent department for their kind administrative
serum protein. support. Dr. B.H. Mehta for the valuable guidance. Lab
assistant Mr.Vikas for his assistance.
The brix measurement can be read off the scale, showing
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