Aspartame supplementation

An estimation of the amount of amino acid production and the production methods are shown ia Table 11. About 340,000 t/yr of L-glutamic acid, principally as its monosodium salt, are manufactured ia the world, about 85% ia the Asian area. The demand for DL-methionine and L-lysiae as feed supplements varies considerably depending on such factors as the soybean harvest ia the United States and the anchovy catch ia Pern. Because of the actions of D-amiao acid oxidase and i.-amino acid transamiaase ia the animal body (156), the D-form of methionine is as equally nutritive as the L-form, so that DL-methionine which is iaexpensively produced by chemical synthesis is primarily used as a feed supplement. In the United States the methionine hydroxy analogue is partially used ia place of methionine. The consumption of L-lysiae has iacreased ia recent years. The world consumption tripled from 35,000 t ia 1982 to 100,000 t ia 1987 (214). Current world consumption of L-tryptophan and i.-threonine are several tens to hundreds of tons. The demand for L-phenylalanine as the raw material for the synthesis of aspartame has been increasing markedly. 

L-Aspartic acid (12) is an industrially important, large volume, chiral compound. The primary use of aspartic acid in the fine chemical arena is in the production of aspartame, a high potency sweetener (Chapter 31). Other uses of L-aspartate include dietary supplements, pharmaceuticals, production of alanine (by decarboxylation), antibacterial agents, and lubricating compounds. There have been a number of reviews on L-aspartate production.53 56... 

Isolation of the amino acids from such wastewaters might be of commercial value. For example, L-phenylalanine has been used as a precursor in the synthesis of a variety of industrial products, for example, the artificial sweetener Aspartame [117]. Purified amino acids can, on the other hand, be used as nutritional supplements in the diet of livestock [118], as weU as in human nutrition [119]. Therefore, there is potential for the extraction of amino acids from dairy and proteinaceous wastewaters for additional income of the producing industries. Application of LMs in treatment of such wastewaters could be of substantial benefit. 

Fortunately, PKU can be easily detected in newborns, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia mandate that such a test be performed because it is cheaper to treat the disease with a modified diet than to cope with the costs of a mentally retarded individual who is usually institutionalized for life. The dietary changes are relatively simple. Phenylalanine must be limited to the amount needed for protein synthesis, and tyrosine must now be supplemented, because phenylalanine is no longer a source. You may have noticed that foods containing aspartame carry a warning about the phenylalanine portion of that artificial sweetener. A substitute for aspartame, which carries the trade name Alatame, contains alanine rather than phenylalanine. It has been introduced to retain the benefits of aspartame without the dangers associated with phenylalanine. 

Grembecka, M. and R Szefer. 2012. Simultaneous determination of caffeine and aspartame in diet supplements and non-alcoholic beverages using liquid-chromatography coupled to corona CAD and UV-DAD detectors. Food Anal. Methods 5 1010-1017. 

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