Metabolic studies with the nonnutritive sweetener cycloheptylsulfamate

The nonnutritive sweetener cycloheptylsulfamate was administered orally to rabbits and rats. The urine of each species was separately collected for 3 days and examined for the metabolites cycloheptylamine, cycloheptanone, and cycloheptanol and for cycloheptylsulfamate. A previously tested GLC method was adapted for the determination of the metabolites. Cycloheptylsulfamate was assayed by hydrolysis and subsequent measurement of the absorbance of the product formed (lambdamax=489 nm) by the liberated amine with p-benzoquinone. The conversions to the metabolites were 0.276, 0.390, and 0.170%, respectively, in rabbits and 0.064, 0.022, and 0.017%, respectively, in rats.