Category: sweetener
Aliases: Ace-K, Acesulfame K, E950, Sunett, Sweet One, Potassium acesulfame, ACK, Acesulphame potassium
Acesulfame potassium is the potassium salt of 6-methyl-1,2,3-oxathiazin-4(3H)-one 2,2-dioxide, an oxathiazinone-dioxide non-nutritive sweetener roughly 200x as sweet as sucrose. The acesulfame anion activates the heterodimeric sweet-taste receptor (TAS1R2/TAS1R3) on lingual type II taste cells, triggering gustducin-coupled PLCβ2 signalling and gut enteroendocrine sweet-sensing; it carries a slightly bitter off-taste at high concentration, often masked by blending with [[sucralose]] or [[aspartame]]. Unlike caloric sugars such as [[glucose]] and [[fructose]], it provides no metabolizable energy and does not raise blood glucose or stimulate insulin meaningfully. It is rapidly and essentially completely absorbed in the gut but is not metabolized — no CYP, conjugation, or hydrolytic transformation occurs — and is excreted unchanged in urine. Heat- and pH-stable, it is widely used in baked and beverage applications.