Aspartame

About This Product

Aspartame is the methyl ester of the dipeptide L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine, carrying CAS number 22839-47-0 and the European additive number E951. It is supplied as a white crystalline powder. Although it is built from two amino acids and is digested as protein would be, it is roughly 200 times sweeter than sucrose, so the quantity used contributes a negligible number of calories.

Its sweetness profile is close to sugar, with a clean onset and no significant bitter or metallic aftertaste, which is why it became the reference high-intensity sweetener in diet beverages. Two properties govern how it can be used. First, it is not heat-stable: the peptide bond hydrolyses on baking or prolonged heating, so sweetness is progressively lost and aspartame is unsuitable for most baked goods. Second, it degrades slowly in acid solution over time, which sets a practical shelf life on carbonated drinks rather than a formulation limit. It also works synergistically with acesulfame K, and blends of the two give more sugar-like sweetness than either alone. Because it releases phenylalanine on digestion, any product containing it must carry a declaration for people with phenylketonuria.

It is used in diet carbonated drinks, powdered beverages, tabletop sweeteners, yoghurt, chewing gum, confectionery and pharmaceutical syrups.

Bio Green Foods supplies food-grade aspartame to specification on assay, loss on drying, particle size, heavy metals and related substances.