An electrochemical sensor for the detection of aspartame using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was developed by modifying a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) dispersed over multivvalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in dimethylformamide medium. The ZnONPs/MWCNTs/GCE surface area of 12.17 mm(2) was able to oxidize aspartame at a potential of 1.70 V in a phosphate buffer of pH 2.0 showing two anodic peaks at 0398 V and 1.491 V. The characterization of nanocomposite was carried out using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The sensitivity and detection limits obtained with the modified electrode was four-fold greater than that of the unmodified electrode and the concentration of aspartame was found to be 40.36 mu M, 27.92 mu M and 4430 mu M in Coke zero, Huletts and Sprite zero respectively. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of aspartame in food samples with a 96% confidence level. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.