Products Description

Aspartame is scientifically known as aspartyl phenylalanine methyl ester. Its chemical formula is C14H18N2O5. It exists as a white powder at room temperature and is a natural functional oligosaccharide with high sweetness, low hygroscopicity and no risk of causing tooth decay. People with diabetes can consume it. Due to its extremely low calories and high sweetness, aspartame can be added to beverages, pharmaceutical products or sugar-free chewing gum as a sugar substitute. The calorie content of aspartame is approximately 16.75 kJ/g. Moreover, 2.8 mg/dl of aspartame can make people perceive sweetness, so the calories produced by a small amount of aspartame can be disregarded. Stability
In a solution of aspartame at a certain temperature and acidic pH, the ester bonds can be hydrolyzed to form aspartyl phenylalanine and methanol. Under neutral, alkaline (pH > 7) conditions or when heated, or through cyclization to eliminate methanol, a ring aspartyl phenylalanine is formed. Eventually, aspartyl phenylalanine will continue to hydrolyze to produce two separate amino acids - aspartic acid and phenylalanine.
The half-life of aspartame can reach 300 days and is most stable in an environment with a pH of 3 to 5; when the pH is 7, the half-life is only a few days. The sweetening property of aspartame is different from that of sucrose, being more persistent than sucrose, and there will be no aftertaste of bitterness or metallic odor after consumption. Moreover, aspartame can be rapidly metabolized and decomposed in the human body into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol.

In dry products such as solid powder beverages and mixed snacks, the stability of aspartame is very good, and the overall stability is similar to pure aspartame. Aspartame undergoes hydrolysis and cyclization in high-temperature environments, which limits its application in baked, fried foods that require high-temperature and long-time processing. However, if handled properly, aspartame can also be used in foods that require some degree of heat treatment, such as foods that need to be sterilized at 132-138°C for 1 minute. In other extreme conditions, such as frozen or quick-frozen foods, the amount of directly changed aspartame is very small.

Due to the combined influence of water, pH and temperature, the decomposition of aspartame leads to the gradual loss of sweetness. However, this does not cause strange flavors because the transformed substances are odorless.

Solubility
The solubility of aspartame is an important parameter and must be taken into account when applied to liquid foods. For aspartame itself, its solubility is a function of pH and temperature. When preparing table sweeteners, beverages and sweet mixed snacks, the combined influence of these factors must be fully considered.

At its isoelectric point (pH 5.2), the solubility of aspartame is the lowest, and it increases with temperature. At the isoelectric point, there is a linear relationship between temperature and solubility. The tendency to form salt solutions below the isoelectric point helps to improve the dissolution rate and degree of dissolution, which can be achieved by first dissolving an edible acid (lactic acid, malic acid, etc.) in the system, then adding aspartame, or adding both at the same time.

Items	Specifications	Analysis results
Content (%)	99.0~102.0	99.18
Appearance	White crystalline powder	Conforms
Optical rotation (°)	+14.5~+16.5	+16.5
Transparency of light	≥0.95	0.992
pH	4.5~6.0	5.32
Loss on drying (%)	≤4.5	3.04
Residue on ignition (%)	≤0.2	0.15
Lead (mg/kg)	≤1	＜1
Other related substance (%)	≤2.0	＜2.0
5-benzyl-3,6-dioxo -2-Piperazine acetic acid (%)	≤1.5	＜1.5

Sweetness characteristics

Aspartame has a refreshing, sugar-like sweetness similar to that of sucrose. Unlike most artificial sweeteners, it does not have the bitter taste or metallic aftertaste that is often associated with them. This is one of its significant advantages.
In food and soft drinks, the sweetness of aspartame is typically 180-220 times that of sucrose. Generally speaking, the relative sweetness of aspartame is negatively correlated with the concentration of the control substance, sucrose, and it changes with different flavor systems, pH, tasting temperature, and the concentration of sucrose or other sugars.

Flavor enhancement characteristics
Aspartame has an enhancing effect on the flavors of certain food and beverage products, especially for acidic fruit flavors. Sensory evaluations suggest that its enhancing effect on natural flavors is better than that on synthetic flavors. When applied to certain foods, this flavor enhancing characteristic can reduce the amount of aspartame used and meet the special needs of products such as chewing gum. Chewing gum containing aspartame has a sweetness duration that is four times longer than that of chewing gum containing sucrose. When aspartame is mixed with some sweeteners with slightly lower sweetness or some salts, it is easy to change its lingering sweet taste and texture. This must be noted when preparing food.

Synergistic enhancing effect
Aspartame can be used in combination with strong sweeteners or carbohydrate-based sweeteners, further expanding its application range. When aspartame is mixed with carbohydrate-based sweeteners (such as sucrose, fructose, or glucose), the product's energy decreases significantly while the sweetness remains unchanged. When aspartame is mixed with strong sweeteners (such as saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame, or stevia), the product sometimes has a bitter taste, which can be improved by increasing the proportion of aspartame in the mixture. The improvement degree increases as the proportion of aspartame increases. The synergistic enhancing effect of sweeteners depends on the proportion of each component sweetener and the food ingredient system.