it is understood that the terminology used herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only , and is not intended to limit the scope of the presently described technology . it is also understood that , as used herein and in the appended claims , the singular forms “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ” include plural reference , unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . unless defined otherwise , all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs . while various methods , compositions , and materials of the presently described technology are described herein , any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can by used in the practice or testing of the presently described technology . all references cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety . the film , which is normally a thin film , of the presently described technology is instantly wettable and rapidly dissolving . thus , the film adheres to the roof of one &# 39 ; s mouth or tongue , quickly and totally dissolves . the film comprises xanthone compounds for delivery through oral consumption . in one embodiment of the invention , the xanthones are derived from natural plant sources . preferably , the xanthones can be derived from fruit of the garcinia mangostana l . plant . in one preferred embodiment of the presently described technology , the xanthones are derived from the pericarp of mangosteen fruit . in another preferred embodiment , the xanthones are derived from a mixture of mangosteen fruit pulp and pericarp , thus ensuring a natural , holistic source of xanthones . in addition to xanthone compounds , the film of the presently described technology can comprise one or more of the following ingredients : saliva inducing agents , surfactants , stabilizing agents , emulsifiers , thickeners , plasticizers , antimicrobials , water , water soluble polymers , binders , polyethylene oxides , propylene glycols , sweeteners , flavor enhancers , colorants and polyalcohols . any number of saliva enhancing agents can be used in the presently described technology . these agents are well known in the art , which include common food - grade sweeteners such as glucose , dextrose , fructose , lactose , maltose , xylose , sucrose , corn sugar syrup , and other sweet mono - or di - saccharides . a combination of synthetic sweeteners plus a non - sugar , sugar - related compound such as sorbitol , hexitol , maltilol , xylitol , and mannitol , or starch hydrolysate such as lycansin , or the like is also advantageous in the presently described technology . aspartame may also be used . the surfactants that may be used in the presently described technology can vary , but generally compromise one or more anionic surfactants . for example , when a combination of surfactants is used , the first component may be a polyoxyethylene alkyl ether and the second component may be a polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid ester . the ether compound may have an hlb value of 14 - 16 , while the ester compound may have an hlb value of between 10 and 20 . of course , these values can vary , as one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate . stabilizers useful in the presently described technology include xanthan gums , carrageenan , and the like . in one embodiment of the presently described technology , antimicrobials are included in the formulation . these compounds include essential oils such as eucalyptol , menthol , vacrol , thymol , methyl salicylate , verbenone , eugenol , gerianol and combinations thereof . the water soluble polymers of the presently described technology can exhibit film forming properties , so the xanthone - containing mixture can be spread into a thin film with sufficient tensile strength to withstand cutting , dicing and packaging of the product . typical polymers include , but are note limited to , amylase , arabic gum , carboxymethyl cellulose , carboxyvinyl polymers , collagen , dextrin , gluten , guar gum , acacia gum , high amylase starch , hydroxyethyl cellulose , hydroxypropyl cellulose , hydroxypropylated high amylase starch , hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose , methylmethacrylate copolymers , polyacrylic acid , polyethylene glycol , polyvinyl alcohol , polyvinyl pyrrolidone , pullulan , sodium alginate , tragacanth gum , whey protein isolate , and combinations thereof . polyalcohols give a soft feel to the film and allow the film to conform to the contours of the oral cavity . useful polyalcohols for purposes of the presently described technology include glycerol , polyethylene glycol , propylene glycol , glycerol monoesters with fatty acids or other known polyalcohols . if colorants are used in the presently described technology , they should be non - toxic and approved by the food and drug administration . although there are a number of different methods of producing the thin films of the presently described technology , one method is as follows : the non - water soluble plasticizers , surfactants , and polyalcohols are dissolved in an appropriate amount of solvent , which may include water - alcohol mixtures . the other water soluble ingredients and xanthones are then slowly added until a single homogeneous solution is obtained . it may be necessary to heat the solution to accommodate thorough mixture and dissolving of all ingredients . the resulting soup mixture is then poured or coated onto a non - stick drying surface that allows even spreading of the mixture across its surface . the mixture is slowly cooled and / or dried until it hardens and the thin film is formed . the thin films are then cut into shapes suitable for packing . the invention will now be explained with reference to the following example , which are given for illustration only and are not intended to be limiting thereof . a rapidly dissolving thin film was made by combining the ingredients listed below : ingredients amount natural compounded liquid mangosteen flavor 4 . 5 %- 4 . 9 % mangosteen fruit extract 0 . 1 %- 0 . 5 % vitamin c 0 . 2 % aspartame 0 . 04 % xanthan gums 2 %- 3 % water remainder in this example , whole fruit of the mangosteen fruit is ground into a mixture containing pericarp and fruit pulp . xanthones are then extracted from the mangosteen whole fruit mixture by dissolving the whole fruit mixture in an alcohol based solvent . the solvent containing extracted xanthones is then mixed with other ingredients in the amount of from about 0 . 1 % to about 0 . 5 % to make a mixture solution . the mixture solution is rolled out on a sheet , and water is evaporated off using an airflow cooling tunnel over a period of about 24 hours . the resulted thin film is then cut into desired shapes and sizes . the presently described technology may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics . the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive . the scope of the presently described technology is , therefore , indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description . all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope .
a nutraceutical composition containing xanthones for oral ingestion is disclosed . the composition is a rapidly dissolving film comprising water soluble polymers and xanthones . the xanthones are , preferably , derived from natural plant sources , especially from fruit of garcinia mangostana l . plant .