Betaine anhydrous (TMG)

Betaine anhydrous, chemically N,N,N-trimethylglycine, is a quaternary ammonium inner salt: the nitrogen carries three methyl groups and a permanent positive charge, balanced internally by the carboxylate. The molecule is C5H11NO2 at 117.15 g/mol, a white odourless crystalline solid with a distinctly sweet taste that decomposes rather than melts cleanly at around 293 °C. It is exceptionally water-soluble, roughly 160 g in 100 mL, and correspondingly deliquescent, which is the single fact that governs how it must be stored, weighed and packed. Do not confuse the anhydrous free betaine with betaine hydrochloride (CAS 590-46-5, C5H11NO2·HCl, 153.61 g/mol, about 76 % betaine base), which is acidic, far less soluble and bought for different reasons. Two industrial routes reach the same molecule. The established food route recovers betaine from non-GM sugar beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris) processing streams — molasses, vinasse or betaine-glycerol — by hot-water extraction, chromatographic separation and crystallisation. That is the material behind the EFSA novel food dossier, whose purity criteria are not less than 99 % on dry matter, moisture not more than 2 % for the anhydrous form, ash not more than 0.1 %, arsenic below 0.1 mg/kg, lead below 0.05 mg/kg and cadmium below 0.01 mg/kg. The synthetic route condenses trimethylamine with monochloroacetic acid or sodium chloroacetate and delivers an identical compound at lower cost. Either way the ingredient is plant-derived or wholly synthetic, vegan and vegetarian, with no milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, gluten, sesame or nut material anywhere in the process — but the two routes are priced and positioned differently, so name the one you want on the enquiry. Functionally the ingredient is described on two established grounds only: it is a methyl donor, transferring a methyl group in the betaine–homocysteine methyltransferase reaction, and it is an organic osmolyte that plants, animals and micro-organisms accumulate to hold cell volume under osmotic stress. For EU labelling, Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 carries an authorised claim linking betaine to normal homocysteine metabolism, usable only where the food supplies at least 500 mg per quantified portion, where the consumer is told the effect follows a 1.5 g daily intake, and where the label warns that more than 4 g a day may significantly raise blood cholesterol. Separately, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1294 authorised betaine as a novel food for foods intended for intense muscular effort, and betaine anhydrous is an authorised EU feed additive under 3a920. Whether a finished product qualifies for any of this is the brand's determination. Formulators should plan around the hygroscopicity: blend below 40 % relative humidity, consider a silicon dioxide glidant, and pack finished powders in foil laminate.