Quality assessment of some brands of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) tablets marketed in Uyo, Nigeria

Abstract

The quality of some brands of vitamin C tablets marketed in the city of Uyo, Nigeria was assessed. All the ten samples passed the uniformity of weight and disintegration time tests as specified in the British Pharmacopoeia and
United States Pharmacopoeia for effervescent, uncoated, dispersible tablets. However, the titrimetric evaluations for the content of active ingredient showed that seven samples contained a chemical equivalent of ascorbic acid within
the limits of official specification. Finally, the equivalence point (end-point) was very sharp and attained faster when ceric ammonium sulphate was used as the titrating reagent.