Question

What is aspartame and what is its use?

Answer 1

Hint: As we know that some compounds can be stable only when it’s kept at a particular temperature. Aspartame is a drug which has a sweeting property. It’s used in food products. It is a non-saccharide and is a dipeptide of phenylalanine and aspartic acid.

Complete step by step answer:
We must remember that the aspartame is not a carbohydrate but is 200 times sweeter than sucrose. It is usually used as a sugar substitute i.e. artificial sweetener in foods and beverages.
Aspartame is a non-caloric sweetener too. It is a methyl ester of a dipeptide formed from two amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine. It is a white colorless powder used in food stuff throughout the world.
Aspartame breaks down and loses its sweetness over time if it’s stored in liquids at temperature more than 30-degree C. It is very stable in a dry state. But in solution, it degrades into diketopiperazine. This compound can’t be usable in foods at higher temperature.
At pH below 3.4, the dipeptide gets hydrolyzed and when pH is bigger than 5, cyclisation of the dipeptide occurs. In both cases, the sweetness is lost.
In foods with moderate water content, the maximum stability is often seen. Thus, it’s very stable in deep frozen products. Therefore, because aspartame is unstable at cooking temperatures, its usage is restricted to cold foods and drinks.

Note:
We must remember that aspartame intake has various side effects. This mainly because of degradation of aspartame at high temperature. Brain tumor is caused by the aspartame methanol which is a breakdown product.