Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) is naturally-derived powdered cellulose that is insoluble in water, and it gets its “microcrystalline” name after cellulose chains undergo partial acid hydrolysis, which causes depolymerization of the cellulose.

Once depolymerized (as if cutting all the links in a bicycle chain), the resulting fragments or of a crystalline and finely powdered nature – with differing particle sizes constituting the various grades of MCC we offer.

These resulting particles have a natural tendency to undergo “plastic deformation,” a term used in industry to describe substances that bend and hold shape when compressed like plastic – on the other hand, Lactose undergoes “brittle fracture” under pressures.