Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James Schlatter[1] and can be made using either chemical or enzymatic synthesis methods.[2][3][4]
Chemical synthesis methods couple the two amino acids that aspartame is composed of, L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine. However, chemical synthesis has the limitation that it produces a bitter isomer (β-aspartame) as well as the sweet isomer (α-aspartame) used in aspartame products. These isomers then have to be separated.
Enzymatic methods are preferable because they use Thermolysin, an enzyme derived from a bacterium called Bacillus thermoproteolyticus, which only produces the sweet isomer (α-aspartame).[5][6][7]
Due to a lack of information on different manufacturers’ websites, it is unclear exactly which methods are used to produce aspartame by different manufacturers (Canderel, Hermesetas Gold, NutraSweet, Pal Sweet, etc.).
References
- ^Mazur RH, Goldkamp AH, James PA, Schlatter JMStructure-taste relationships of aspartic acid amides.J Med Chem.(1970-Nov)
- ^EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS)Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of aspartame (E 951) as a food additiveEFSA Journal.(2013 Dec)
- ^Chattopadhyay S, Raychaudhuri U, Chakraborty RArtificial sweeteners - a reviewJ Food Sci Technol.(2014 Apr)
- ^Marie K. WalshImmobilized enzyme technology for food applicationsNovel Enzyme Technology for Food Applications.(2007)
- ^Yagasaki M, Hashimoto SSynthesis and application of dipeptides; current status and perspectives.Appl Microbiol Biotechnol.(2008-Nov)
- ^Richard J. PrankerdAspartameAnalytical Profiles of Drug Substances and Excipients.(2002)
- ^Ager et al.Commercial, Synthetic Nonnutritive SweetenersAngew Chem Int Ed.(2004 Feb)