Title: Alternative Sweeteners

Acesulfame K 17
Figure 4 Sweetness intensity of acesulfame K in aqueous solution.
concentrations, a slightly greater sweetness may be perceived compared with
neutral solutions.
The sweet taste of acesulfame K is perceived quickly and without unpleasant
delay. Compared with other intense sweeteners (aspartame, alitame), acesulfame
K has a faster sweetness onset (8). The sweet taste is not lingering and
does not persist longer than the intrinsic taste of foods. In aqueous solutions with
high concentrations of acesulfame K, a bitter taste can sometimes be detected
(9). In foodstuffs with lower concentrations of acesulfame K, this effect is not
of great importance. As for all intense sweeteners, however, assessments of different
taste characteristics depend on the product in which the sweeteners are
used (9). It was further observed that the sweetness of acesulfame K solutions
does not decrease with rising temperatures to the extent of other intense sweeteners
(10).
A strong synergistic taste enhancement was noted in mixtures of acesulfame
K and aspartame or sodium cyclamate, whereas only slight taste enhancement
was perceived in mixtures of acesulfame K and saccharin (11–13). Acesulfame
and aspartame both taste approximately or even less than 100 times sweeter
than a sucrose solution containing 100 g/l (9). A blend of both sweeteners, however,
tastes more than 300 times sweeter than the same sucrose solution. This
effect apparently cannot be explained from the individual sweetness intensity
curves and should therefore be attributable to synergism (14). Although strongest
taste enhancement was found in 1:1 (w/w) blends, pronounced synergism was
observed for other blend ratios also. Acesulfame K exhibits synergism when com-