Pharmaceutical glaze is an alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 based solution of various types of food grade shellac

Shellac

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes , which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish...

. When used in food and confections

Confectionery

Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...

, it is also known as confectioner's glaze, resinous glaze, pure food glaze and natural glaze. It is also known colloquially in the manufacturing world as beetle

Beetle

Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...

 juice due to shellac's derivation from the lac insect Kerria lacca (which is not a beetle, but a scale insect

Scale insect

The scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, generally classified as the superfamily Coccoidea. There are about 8,000 species of scale insects.-Ecology:...

).

Pharmaceutical glaze may contain denatured alcoholic solution of 20-51% shellac, waxes and titanium dioxide as an opacifying agent.

Pharmaceutical glaze is used by the drug and nutritional supplement industry as a coating material for tablets and capsules. It serves to improve the product's appearance, extend shelf life

Shelf life

Shelf life is the length of time that food, drink, medicine, chemicals, and many other perishable items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale, use, or consumption...

 and protect it from moisture, as well as provide a solid finishing film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 for pre-print coatings. It also serves to mask unpleasant odors and aid in the swallowing of the tablet.

The shellac coating is insoluble in stomach acid and may make the tablet difficult for the body to break down or assimilate. For this reason it can also be used as an ingredient in time-released, sustained or delayed action pills. The product is listed on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's inactive ingredient list.

A competitive non-animal-based product is zein

Zein

Zein is a class of prolamine protein found in maize. It is usually manufactured as a powder from corn gluten meal.-Commercial uses:Zein is one of the best understood plant proteins and has a variety of industrial and food uses...

, a corn protein.