Aspartame and Its Hydrolysis Product in Diet Soft Drink: An Introduction and Discussion of An Undergraduate Experiment Abroad
MA Xin-Yu1, WANG Zhipeng1, TIAN Jie2, XU Bing3, JIANG Zhen-Xiong2
1. Department of Chemistry, Texas A & M University, TX, 77840, United States;
2. Department of Biology, Texas A & M University, TX, 77840, United States;
3. Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A & M University, TX, 77840, United States
Abstract Chemistry is bound to our daily life widely and tightly. Looking into foreign undergraduates' education with chemistry-related majors, biochemistry theory and practice are well combined with common chemical materials and phenomena, which enables students to understand or solve daily life problems better, as well as bringing up interests in chemistry. This paper will introduce one chemical experiment of undergraduates' lab, using simple hydrolysis and thin layer chromatography methods qualitatively analyze aspartame component and its' hydrolysis products in sugar free drinks. As an important food additive, aspartame is a simple methyl ester of phenylalanine/aspartic acid dipeptides, this experiment investigates hydrolysis of polypeptides under acid/basic conditions simultaneously, which can be described as multiple in one. The experiment's arrangement and execution are worth being learned by domestic organic chemistry labs, additionally, it will help students to know and understand primary structure of polypeptides and pave foundations for the future study of biochemistry.
MA Xin-Yu, WANG Zhipeng, TIAN Jie, XU Bing, JIANG Zhen-Xiong. Aspartame and Its Hydrolysis Product in Diet Soft Drink: An Introduction and Discussion of An Undergraduate Experiment Abroad[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Education, 2019, 40(18): 83-88.
