Title: administration of drugs oral route
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - administration of drugs oral route
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.15145
Status: current

Definition
Administration of drugs through the mouth to swallow.

Notes
1) This is the most convenient and popular administration route.
2) Per-oral products can be powders, granules, uncoated or coated tablets, capsules, and liquids (solutions, emulsions, and suspensions). Liquids for oral use may contain antimicrobial preservatives and are supplied in multi- or single-dose containers.
3) It differs from intraoral administration.

Related Terms
- administration: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15143
- capsules: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15159
- coated tablets: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15161
- granules: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15193
- powders: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15227

Source
- PAC, 2009, 81, 971. 'Glossary of terms related to pharmaceutics (IUPAC Recommendations 2009)' on page 974 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-04-10-14)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15145/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15145/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15145/xml

Citation: Citation: 'administration of drugs oral route' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.15145
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-11T01:15:27+00:00