Dissolution testing has become the major in vitro test for determining
the quality of oral dosage forms. Although correlation between in vit
ro test and in vivo bioavailability of a drug may not be automatically
assumed, it is nevertheless widely accepted that failure of a product
to meet the dissolution requirement may be indicative of a potential
bioavailability problem. In dissolution testing modern analytical tech
niques play an important part. This paper discusses the present status
of dissolution tests for tablets and capsules and assesses some of th
e analytical techniques used in such tests.