What is Neotame?
Neotame is a white powder or crystal sweetener that has practical uses. It has a pure sweet taste and a lasting sweetness after consumption. It tastes a lot like aspartame. It is roughly 7000–13000 times as sweet as sucrose. It is widely used in food, health care products, and pharmaceutical industries.
L-phenylalanine and dimethyl formate are usually used as raw materials for the production of neotame. Under the action of an acidic catalyst, the two are esterified to generate an intermediate product, which is then reacted with other compounds to form a Neotame molecule.
To guarantee the high efficiency and yield of the reaction, this step must be completed under tightly regulated temperature and pressure conditions. Neotame is crystallized from the reaction mixture by controlling the reaction conditions. Then, multi-stage filtration technology is used to separate the crystallized Neotame from the impurities in the reaction mixture, and the purity is further improved by washing.
Related parameters:
| ITEMS | SPECIFICATION |
| Neotame content (on dry basis) | 97.0-102.0% |
| N-[N-(3,3-Dimethylbutyl)-L-alpha-Aspartyl]-L-Phenylalanine | ≤ 1.5% |
| Other Related Substances | ≤ 2.0% |
| PH, 0.5% solution | 5.0-7.0 |
| Water | ≤ 5.0% |
| Sulfated ash | ≤ 0.2% |
| Specific Rotation [a]20D 0.5% solution,on dry basis | -40.0~-43.4 |
| Melting Point | 81℃~ 84℃ |
| Lead | ≤1mg/kg |
| Aerobic plate count | <250cfu/g |
| Escherichia coli | <10cfu/g |
| Yeasts and moulds | <100cfu/g |
Recommended dosage
| Food name | Maximum usage(g/kg) |
| Soft drinks | 0.001 g/kg |
| Yogurt | 0.001 g/kg |
| Hard candy | 0.002 g/kg |
| Chocolate and chocolate products | 0.002 g/kg |
| Cake | 0.001 g/kg |
| Instant seasoning powder | 0.002 g/kg |
| Soy sauce | 0.0005 g/kg |
| Salad dressing | 0.0005 g/kg |
| Canned fruit | 0.001 g/kg |
| Low-sugar jam | 0.002 g/kg |
| Vitamin tablets | 0.0005 g/kg |
Neotame has a wide range of uses
- Food industry: As a high-energy sweetener without energy, neotame is widely used in acidic foods that are not heated for a long time at high temperature, such as dairy products, chewing gum, preserved fruits, cold drinks and ice cream, canned food, cakes, beverages and roasted nuts.
- Animal feed industry: Neotame can effectively mask the metallic taste of saccharin sodium and the unpleasant flavor of animal feed, improve the palatability of feed, and thus increase the animal’s feeding and food intake.
- Pharmaceutical field: To change the taste of pharmaceuticals without compromising their effectiveness, neotame is utilized as an excipient in medicine. A tiny dosage won’t result in an increase in tablet volume, and the long-term sweetness can mask the odor of things like vitamins or the bitter taste of medications.
- 4. Toothpaste and cosmetics: Neotame can be used as a sweetener to preserve the cool properties of mouthwash and toothpaste. Moreover, it can be found in cosmetics like lipstick, bath lotion, and lip balm.
- Cigarette filter: The short duration of sweetness in cigarette filters is the main technical bottleneck. The sweetness cannot last until the end of a cigarette. The aftersweetness of neotame solves this problem very well. The filter made by mixing neotame in ink can significantly increase the duration of the sweetness of cigarettes.
- Additional uses: Neotame can be combined with specific reducing sugars, such as glucose, fructose, lactose, etc., to preserve the coolness of toothpaste and cosmetics. These items can also use it as a sweetener.
User asked question:
Q: What are the advantages of Neotame over aspartame?
A: The main advantages of Neotame are its high stability, high sweetness (about 8000-10000 times that of sucrose) and low calories. It is appropriate for use in aseptic operating procedures, high temperature short time (HTST) sterilization, and batch production. In real-world uses, it may greatly prolong and improve the flavor and aroma of goods.
The body can metabolize neotame quickly. The primary metabolic route produces defatted neotame and methanol by hydrolyzing methyl esters with human-produced enzymes. When compared to regular meals, neotame produces very little methanol, which the body can fully eliminate through urine and feces and which does not build up within the body.
But aspartame (sweetener, APM) is only 150–200 times sweeter than sucrose and offers very little energy. It can be decomposed into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and trace methanol in the human body. These components are found in food naturally and will hydrolyze at high pH levels or temperatures. It is therefore unsuitable for dishes that need for high baking temperatures.
