In 1965, an experimenter of Hillary Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. wiped his mouth without washing his hands when developing a drug for gastric ulcer, and found that aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sucrose, commonly known as aspartame. Partame, which is often used in beverages due to its poor thermal stability.

Later, people moved some hands and feet on aspartame, making it 7000-13000 times sweeter than sucrose, commonly known as neotame, which is currently the sweetest food additive.

1. seguridad

Neotame is based on aspartame, and its properties are similar to aspartame. There has been a lot of controversy about the side effects of aspartame, one of which has been determined is that aspartame is metabolized in the body to produce phenylalanine, so it is not suitable for the intake of patients with phenylketonuria. Special note on the label.

Since the amount of neotame used is less than that of aspartame, and the neotame molecule contains 3,3-dimethylbutyl group, it can almost completely block the function of this peptidase, thereby reducing the amount of phenylalanine. Formed, so neotame does not require special labeling when added to food .

According to the research report of Newt Company, neotame will be deesterified after metabolism in the body to form deesterified neotame and a trace amount of methanol, which will be quickly cleared from the plasma and finally completely excreted from the feces and urine.

2. Usage overview

GB2760-2014 "National Food Safety Standard - Standard for the Use of Food Additives" stipulates that neotame can be added to many foods including baked goods, beverages, dairy products, etc. Except for table sweeteners, candies and ready-to-eat cereal foods, the maximum allowable addition of neotame is less than or equal to 0.1g/kg, which is mainly related to the high sweetness of neotame and the actual need to add less.

In daily inspection, it was found that compared with other sweeteners, neotame was rarely detected in food, indicating that it is not widely used in the food industry. The reasons may be summarized as follows:

(1). Neotame is a new type of product. It has been used in my country since 2003. Compared with other traditional sweeteners, it takes a certain amount of time to promote and accept it;

(2). Neotame is the patent of Newt Company in the United States. The monopoly production before the end of 2013 led to the high price of Neotame, and the cost-effectiveness advantage was not obvious; after the expiration of the US patent, many manufacturers had not yet had time to adjust the formula;

(3). Neotame has the characteristic of lag in sweetness, but it can be improved by compounding with other sweeteners;

(4). Its sweetness is too high, and the limit allowed to be added in food is low. When a little is used alone, it is inconvenient to weigh, and it will be difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to control the amount.

3. application in food

①Application in various beverages

a. Carbonated drinks

Neotame can last for 16 weeks in cola-type carbonated drinks, which is consistent with the shelf life of low-energy carbonated drinks on the market. It can also be used in lemonade, root juice and other drinks.

b. Non-carbonated beverages

Neotame can be used in hot-fill lemon tea, solid powdered beverages, yogurt and other foods, and in these foods, the properties are very stable and of good quality.

②Application in dairy products

Neotame can be used in dairy products, ice cream and other frozen desserts. When used in such products, after the shelf life of such products, it has been found that only 2% of neotame is lost, which is acceptable for the product. Sex has no effect, and other sweeteners rarely achieve this level, neotame is especially suitable for the production of yogurt.

③ Application in baked goods

Unlike aspartame, Neotame is stable under transient high temperature conditions, so it can be used in a variety of baked goods such as cookies, cakes, and brownies. For example, in cake production, after baking at a high temperature of 450 °C, 85% of neotame still exists; while at 25 °C and a relative humidity of 60% for 5 days, only 4% of neotame is lost. In fact, even if Losing 20% will also have no impact on the product.

④Application in chewing gum

Because the energy value of neotame is almost 0, and it does not cause dental caries, it is suitable for the production of sugar-free chewing gum. It is not only suitable for diabetics, but also has no damage to the teeth. The stability of neotame in chewing gum is enhanced by microencapsulation, and a two-layer coating of modified starch and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose prevents it from degrading in storage for 52 weeks.

⑤Application in table sweetener

Because neotame is not hygroscopic and low in energy, it is very suitable as a table sweetener. Studies have shown that neotame can be stored for at least 156 weeks when used as a tabletop sweetener.

⑥ Application in ice cream

Ice cream made with Neotame has good dissolution properties and structure, and its sweetness is pure and without aftertaste.

Unlike aspartame, neotame can be used with certain reducing sugars, such as glucose, fructose, lactose, etc.; it can also be used with aldehyde-based

flavors , such as vanilla, cinnamon, lemon, etc. Used in candy, cereals, jelly and other products, studies have shown that neotame has good properties in these foods.

4. How to improve solubility in water

Although neotame has many excellent properties, its solubility in water is not high and the dissolution rate is relatively small, which limits the application of neotame in food production to a certain extent.

Under normal circumstances, it takes 5 to 7 minutes for 0.05 to 0.19 neotame to be completely dissolved in 100 mL of water (observation with the naked eye). 100mL of water takes about 45min.

Since neotame often needs to be used in aqueous solutions and beverages, improving the solubility and dissolution rate of neotame in water is of great significance for expanding the application scope of neotame in industry and increasing its economic value. Several methods to improve the solubility of neotame in water are described below.

1) Neotame and hydrochloric acid compound

Take a certain amount of neotame and add it to the water, stir well until it becomes a slurry, then slowly add the same amount of hydrochloric acid to it, after about 10 minutes, all the solids are dissolved, and then the clear solution can be obtained by freeze-drying White solid in 99.7% yield.

Compared with the starting material neotame, the product exhibits great water solubility, and it only takes 70s for 1 g of the product to be completely dissolved in 100 mL of water.

2) Neotame and phosphoric acid complex

Take a certain amount of neotame and dissolve it in water, stir to make it into a slurry, then add an equimolar 85% phosphoric acid solution, after all the solids are dissolved, the solution is freeze-dried, the resulting product is a white solid with a yield of 98% . The water solubility of the product has been greatly improved, and 0.1 g of the product can be completely dissolved in 100 mL of water in less than 30s (observation with the naked eye).

3) Neotame and citric acid complex

Dissolve a certain amount of neotame in acetone, slowly add an equimolar citric acid aqueous solution, and then add an appropriate amount of acetone to form a clear colorless solution, stir the solution for 1 hour, and then distill the acetone under reduced pressure. The product was freeze-dried to obtain a white solid.

0.1 g of this white solid was dissolved in 100 mL of water within 90 s (visual observation).

4) Neotame and sodium bicarbonate complex

Dissolve a certain amount of sodium bicarbonate in water, add equimolar neotame, and stir the obtained slurry liquid for 24 hours to obtain a clear solution, and freeze-dry to obtain a white solid, which is the target product.

0.1 g of white solid can be completely dissolved in 100 mL of water in an instant (observation with the naked eye).