Question

Why is use of aspartame limited to cold foods and drinks?

Answer 1

Hint: Some compounds can be stable only when it is kept at a particular temperature. Aspartame is a drug which has a sweetening property. It is used in food products. It is a non-saccharide and is a dipeptide of phenylalanine and aspartic acid.

Complete answer:
-Aspartame is a drug which is an artificial sweetener. It is not a carbohydrate but is 200 times sweeter than sucrose. It is usually used as a sugar substitute 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 colourless, odourless powder used in food stuff throughout the world.
-It is mainly used in cold food and drinks because it is very unstable at higher temperatures. Aspartame breaks down and loses its sweetness over time if it is stored in liquids at temperature more than \[{{30}^{\circ }}C\] . It is very stable in a dry state. But in solution, it degrades into diketopiperazine. This compound cannot be usable in foods at higher temperature. At pH below 3.4, the dipeptide gets hydrolysed and when pH is greater than 5, cyclisation of the dipeptide occurs. In both cases, the sweetness is lost. The pH at which it is stable is between 3.4 and 5. In foods with moderate water content, the maximum stability can be seen at pH 5. Thus, it is very stable in deep frozen products.
Therefore, because aspartame is unstable at cooking temperatures, its usage is limited to cold foods and drinks.

Note:
Aspartame intake has various side effects. This mainly due to the degradation of aspartame at high temperature. One of its breakdown products is methanol which is toxic to our body. It can also cause brain tumour.