| MadSci Network: Neuroscience |
Stefanie,
I can certainly see your problem with trying to get information about "aspartamine". I started my search with my trusty Merck Index, which gives the chemical data for almost every compound known to man, and found no listing or reference to "aspartamine". Hmm. Undaunted, I went to Altavista - my personal favorite search engine - and entered the term aspartamine. What I found were several websites mentioning "aspartamine" that could be grouped into two catergories: those that used "aspartamine" as a synonym for asparagine; and those that mistakenly used "aspartamine" as a synonym for Nutrasweet. While referring to the amino acid, asparagine, as aspartamine is very unusual (it must be a hold-over from before IUPAC), it is the accepted usage of the word. Nutrasweet is aspartame. While aspartame and aspartamine (asparagine) both contain aspartic acid (hence the names), they are physiologically unrelated compounds: one being a common amino acid found in all living organisms, and the other being a purely synthetic food additive.
Keep questioning what you read,
Mike
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Neuroscience.