Kara Grissom

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Walstrom, Katherine

Area of Concentration

Chemistry

Abstract

The consumption of sugar has increased greatly over the last few decades, and is correlated with obesity and several major diseases. While fructose is a natural sugar, it is the main component in high fructose corn syrup which has been targeted as an offender in the obesity epidemic in recent years. Aspartame, an artificial sweetener, has over 100 studies that support its safety however its efficacy in use for diabetics is still questioned. Stevia is a relatively new sweetener that comes from a plant in the form of steviol glycosides, however the leaf and crude extract safety have not been determined yet. The model organism C. elegans was used to determine the effect of these three sweeteners and sugar on the lifespan and body fat content. The control group was fed E. coli OP50 on nematode growth media (NGM) without any sweeteners or sugar added. The addition of aspartame, fructose, and stevia, increased the lifespan compared to the control by 6%, 14%, and 4% respectively, with the avid phenotype exhibited. Fructose and stevia significantly increased the body fat content and area of the treated worms (p<0.0001), while aspartame did not have a significant difference from the control. When body fat content was normalized to the size of the worm, none of the three treatments were significantly different from the control. The results suggest further research for the effects stevia has on C. elegans and higher organisms, the changes in OP50 in the presence of fructose leading to dietary restriction, and the possibility that aspartame may be an ideal non-nutritive sweetener for diabetics and for weight loss.

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