The Artificial Sweeteners, Aspartame and Saccharin, Alter In Vitro Bacterial Growth: A Preliminary Study

Several methods have been utilized by dental researchers to assess the effect that dietary components may have upon bacterial growth. Commonly enteric or ingested organisms are exposed to various concentrations or mixtures of biochemical substrates, and changes in growth, morphology, and reproduction are observed. The artificial sweetener aspartame has been shown not to alter metabolism of sucrose, glucose or fructose by Streptococcus mutans (Frank and Berry, 1984) in vitro. On the other hand, saccharin has been shown to decrease the growth of a mixed oral bacterial population in a dose-dependent manner (Grenby and Bull, 1979) while other studies have indicated that saccharin inhibits growth of gram positive and gram negative cocci without any effect on gram negative rods (Linke and Doyle, 1985). In this study, culture density patterns of specific bacteria resulting from exposure in vitro to either aspartame or saccharin are examined.