Interactions between aspartame, glucose and xylitol in aqueous systems containing potassium sorbate

The interaction between aspartame, glucose and xylitol in aqueous model systems of pH 3.00 and containing potassium sorbate was studied. Potassium sorbate degradation diminished with the increment of aspartame level from 0.050 to 0.500 g/100 g of system. Xylitol was the humectant that minimized aspartame degradation and non-enzymatic browning development. In general, as expected, presence of aspartame, xylitol or glucose and their mixtures increased the sweetness and they also diminished the sourness of the systems. The addition of 0.050 g of aspartame/100 g of system to the system containing xylitol produced a synergistic effect on sweetness intensity. Based on that trend, it could be concluded that the use of more than one sweetener might allow diminishing the amount of each one of them to assure a specific sweet level.These results stand out the advantage of the use of xylitol as well as the importance of an appropriate choice of the additives and food ingredients to use in the formulation of modified products with lower sugar content to optimize their quality.