Sugar is the main source of energy as it produces energy on metabolic decomposition. But these days low calorie drinks are more popular, why?
Natural sweetners e.g., sucrose add to calorie intake. Due to occurrence of more cases of diabetes and obesity among young and old people, these days people usually take low calorie drinks. These are artificial sweetening agents as given below
Saccharin It is 550 times as sweet as cane sugar. It is excreted from the body through urine.
Aspartame It is 100 times as sweet as cane sugar. Its use is limited to cold foods and soft drinks because it is unstable at cooking temperature.
Alitame It is more stable than aspartame but the control of sweeteners of food is difficult while using it.
Sucralose It is stable at cooking temperature. It does not provide calories.
These artificial sweetening agents do not metabolize and hence do not produce any energy.
Pickles have a long shelf life and do not get spoiled for months, why?
Plenty of salt and cover of oil act as preservatives. These food preservatiues prevent spoilage of food due to microbial growth. Salt and oil do not allow moisture and air to enter the material and hence bacteria cannot thrive on them. Therefore, pickles do not get spoiled for months together.
What is the difference between saccharin and saccharic acid?
Saccharin is an artificial sweetening agent. It is about 550 times as sweet as cane sugar. It is excreted from the body in urine unchanged. It appears to be entirely inert and harmless when taken. Its use is of great value to diabetic people who need to control intake of calories.
On the other hand, saccharic acid, is a dibasic acid obtained by the bacterial oxidation of glucose in the mouth or by conc. $\mathrm{HNO}_3$ in the laboratory.
Name an artificial sweetener which is derivative of sucrose.
Sucralose is trichloro derivative of the sucrose. Its appearance and taste are like sugar. It is stable at cooking temperature. Sucralose contributes zero calories to the diet, compared with sucrose, which contributes 16 calories per teaspoon. Structure of sucralose is
Name two $\alpha$-amino acids which form a dipeptide which is 100 times more sweet than cane sugar ?
Aspartame is the most successful and widely used artificial sweetener. It is methyl ester of dipeptide formed from aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Its use is limited to cold foods and soft drinks because it is unstable at cooking temperature.
Structure of aspartame is
