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General Science • ChemistryMedium

Which of the following compounds is used as an artificial sweetener that is about 550 times sweeter than cane sugar and is excreted unchanged in urine?

A. Aspartame
B. Saccharin✓ Correct Answer
C. Sucralose
D. Alitame

💡 Solution & Explanation

Saccharin stands out as one of the oldest synthetic sweetening agents, providing sweetness hundreds of times greater than sucrose while passing through the human body completely unmetabolized and unchanged in urine. Alternative compounds like aspartame break down into amino acids during digestion and provide negligible calories through different metabolic pathways. Its discovery dates back to the late nineteenth century by chemists working at Johns Hopkins University. Saccharin is widely utilized in diabetic diets due to its zero-calorie profile.

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