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Aspartame - Artificial Sweetener


            Aspartame is one of the most commonly used artificial sweeteners being low in calories and approximately 200 times sweeter than sucrose. This sweetener is sold under the common known brand names of NutraSweet and Equal. It was first synthesized in 1965 by Jim Schlatter, who was a chemist at the G.D. Searle (Walters). He was working on an experiment to discover a new treatment for gastric ulcers. To test those new anti-ulcer drugs that he made, the biologist that he was working with used a tetrapeptide (four amino acids) which is produced within the stomach naturally. .
             While synthesizing the tetrapeptide in the lab one of the steps was to make a dipeptide intermediate which was aspartyl-phenylalanine methyl ester (Walters). While Schlatter was doing his work he accidently got a small amount on his finger. He felt it was safe to taste due to the fact that the product was made of natural acids present in all proteins. When he tasted it, he saw that it was sweet and was wondering where the sweet taste came from. Even though it was synthesized and found in 1965 but took a long time for it to be approved for consumption. It was fully approved in 1996 as the FDA removed all restrictions from aspartame, which allowed for it to be used in all foods. .
             The molecular formula of aspartame is C14H18N2O5 and it has a molecular weight of 294.31g. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the dipeptide of the natural amino acids of aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Aspartic acid has a chemical formula of HOOCCH(NH2)CH2COOH and molecular formula of C4H7NO4. The salts along with the carboxylate anion of aspartic acid are known as aspartate. It is a naturally occurring amino acid that is a component of all proteins. It is also classified as a "non-essential " amino acid, which means that humans do not need to get it from their diet since they can make it from other things in a diet. The L-isomer of aspartame is one of the 23 proteinogenic amino which are the building blocks of proteins.


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