saccharin
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Related to saccharin: aspartame
saccharin
(săk`ərĭn), C7H5NSO3, white, crystalline, aromatic compound. It was discovered accidentally by I. Remsen and C. Fahlberg in 1879. Pure saccharin tastes several hundred times as sweet as sugar. It is not readily soluble in water, but its sodium salt, which is sold commercially, dissolves readily. Saccharin has no nutritional value and is excreted unchanged by the body. It is used as a sweetener by persons who must limit their consumption of sugar. Despite the fact that saccharin causes cancer in laboratory rats, its ban was rescinded after a public outcry. In 1984 the World Health Organization suggested an intake limit of 2.5 mg/day per kg bodyweight. Other nonnutritive artificial sweetenerssweetener, artificial,substance used as a low-calorie sugar substitute. Saccharin, cyclamates, and aspartame have been the most commonly used artificial sweeteners. Saccharin, a coal-tar derivative three hundred times as sweet as sugar, was discovered in 1879.
..... Click the link for more information. include sodium cyclamatecyclamate
, any member of a group of salts of cyclamic acid (cyclohexanesulfamic acid). The sodium and calcium salts were commonly used as artificial sweeteners until 1969, when their use was banned by the U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. and aspartame.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Saccharin
(also o-sulfobenzoic imide), a colorless crystalline substance with the structural formula
Saccharin is poorly soluble in water (1:250) and alcohol (1:40) and has a melting point of 228°–229°C. It is sweet but has a bitter aftertaste. The crystal hydrate of the sodium salt of saccharin, known as Crystallose, has a higher solubility in water (1:1.5).
Saccharin is obtained commercially by the oxidation of o-toluenesulfonamide. With a sweetness 400–500 times that of sugar, saccharin was formerly used in great quantities as a sugar substitute. It is not assimilated by the body but rather is excreted in the urine. Saccharin is used as a sweetener for certain items, such as toothpaste, and as an additive in electroplating technology.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
saccharin
[′sak·ə·rən] (organic chemistry)
C6H4COSO2NH A sweet-tasting, white powder, soluble in acetates, benzene, and alcohol; slightly soluble in water and ether; melts at 228°C; used as a sugar substitute for syrups, and in medicines, foods, and beverages. Also known as benzosulfimide; gluside.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
saccharin
a very sweet white crystalline slightly soluble powder used as a nonfattening sweetener. Formula: C7H5NO3S
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005