THE EFFICIENCY OF CAMOTE (Ipomoea batatas) STARCH AND TARO

(Colocasia esculenta) LEAVES EXTRACT AS AN EFFECTIVE COMPONENT

FOR BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC

A Research Study Presented to the School

of JZGMNHS

By
Amatoza, Jherome

Corpuz, John Daniel

Itiquita, Gilbert

Martillano, Christopher

Parao, Rhaven

Flores, Christine Jade

Gallor, Kyla Joy

Jagolino, Kimberly

Macalalag, Leneth

Macayao, Norhyza

Morcillo, Myrasol

Group 2

Grade 10 - Exodus

to

Mrs. Maribel Nayad

Research Adviser

S.Y. 2019-2020
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

In the past few years there's a huge increase of demand in plastics worsening

the problem of waste disposal. Plastics are really useful and people use it every day but

the problem is what happens after they use plastics. Experts today believe at least 8

million metric tons of plastic waste end up in water specially oceans (SC Johnsons,2016)

300 million tons of plastics are produce every year and only 150 million use once (like

bags and wrappings) approximately 10% of its recycled and the rest goes to garbage

dumps/landfills rivers and other bodies of water. The scale of pollution is awful and

many of us don't even realize how bad the situation is ( Aguilar et al,2018) Plastics takes

thousands of years to decompose so there are some ways to prevent plastics waste

pollution they can be recycled or innovated by using biodegradable materials for it.

Starch background white granular material found in plants is a natured polymer that can

substitute petrochemicals in producing plastic. In this study, the researchers, used camote

and taro leaves extract as the main materials for their study. Wherein they aim to produce

a biodegradable plastic from starch (starch based biodegradable plastics) to lessen the

issues in plastic waste disposal so they will be able to help the environment.

Background of the Study

Non-biodegradable plastics are one of the main causes of pollution in our environment.

Based on the research, there are a lot of plastics cluttered in the rivers and canals that

causes flood, diseases and even death of some organisms. According to ( Derrick,2002) A
large number of marine species is known to be harmed and/or killed by plastics debris,

which could jeopardized their survival, especially since many are already endangered by

other forms if anthropogenic activities chemicals added to plastics are observed by

human bodies. Some of those compounds have been found to alter hormones or have

other potential human health effects. Plastics are so hard to breakdown because polymers

the major material of which plastics is comprised are hard to breakdown. Due to this

existing problem, the researchers conducted this study to neutralize the plastic garbage or

lessen the pollution in our environment. Since camote is good source of potassium and

dietary fiber which can be good material to make alternative biodegradable plastics with

the help of taro leaves extract, the researchers decided to use the Camote and taro leaves

extract to provide a good quality of biodegradable plastic that is environmental friendly

and will lessen the issue in pollution

Statement of the Problem

The present research works with emphasis on the synthesis of biodegradable

plastics materials using Taro (Colocasia esculenta) leaves extract and Camote ( Ipomoea

batatas) starch . Specifically this study aims to:

1. Produce biodegradable plastic from Taro leaves extract and Camote starch as

potential source of biodegradable plastic.

2. Determine the level of acceptability of the product in terms of:

a. Durability

b. Cost
c. Biodegradability

d. Elasticity

3. Determine the difference between the durability of biodegradable plastic and

commercialized ones.

Conceptual Framework

This study aims to produce a biodegradable plastic from Taro leaves extract and

different amount of camote starch also to test the durability, elasticity, and

biodegradability of the biodegradable plastic for each treatment.

THE EFFICIENCY OF CAMOTE (Ipomoea

batatas) STARCH AND TARO (Colocasia
esculenta) LEAVES EXTRACT AS AN
EFFECTIVE COMPONENT FOR
BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC

Independent Variable: Dependent Variable:

Amount of the following: The level of acceptability of the

biodegradable plastic in terms
•Taro leaves extract of:
•Camote starch a. Durability
•Sodium Hydroxide b. Biodegradability
•Glycerin c. Cost
•Vinegar d. Elasticity
Statement of the Hypothesis

Null (Hₒ): The use of camote starch and taro leaves extract has no significant effect in

producing a cost effective and environmental friendly biodegradable plastic.

Alternative (Hₐ): The use of camote starch and taro leaves extract has a significant effect

in producing a cost effective and environmental friendly biodegradable plastic.

Scopes and Delimitation

This study is intended to compare the qualities of biodegradable plastics and

commercialized ones. It aims to produce a bio plastic that is biodegradable, durable, and

elastic. However, this study is not intended to test the heat resistance, solubility and water

resistance of the bio plastic because of lack of measuring instruments like PCE-SO 60

SSTC, 30 SSTC and FOB 1.50 KO.5 to measure the water resistance. In addition, it has a

limit in the production of bio plastic because they will do it manually.

Significance of the Study

This study aims to help the following personality in terms of biodegradability and

durability of the biodegradable plastic out of camote starch and taro leaves extract.

Students: It will be beneficial to the students because of its durability and there are no

harmful effects.

Farmers: It will help the farmers because of its biodegradability that can be a fertilizer.
Customers: It will be beneficial to the customers because of its durability that can help

them from lifting heavy materials.

Researchers: It will be beneficial to the researchers because it can be a basis when they

are going to conduct a study related to the researcher's study.

Community: It can help the community because it is cost effective and eco-friendly.

Environment: It can help the environment because this biodegradable plastic and can

lessen the water pollution.

Definition of terms:

 Biodegradability- Capable of being slowly destroyed a broken down into very

small parts by natural processes, bacteria etc.

 Starch- A white organic chemical that is produced by all green plants. Starch is a

polysaccharide comprising glucose monomers.

 Polymer- A molecule contains many individual units (manners) linked together.

 Pollution- The action or process of making land, water, and air dirty and not safe

of suitable use.

 Elasticity- The quality or state of being elastic.

 Gelatinization- The process of converting into a gelatinous form or into a jelly.

 Optical microscopy- The use of or investigation with a microscope.

 Polyssachorize- It is a carbohydrate made up of repeating monosaccharide units

joined together by glycosides bonds.

 Sedimentation- The natural process in which material (such as stones and sand) is

carried to the bottom of a body of water and forms a solid layer.

 Microscopic tools- It is used to assist us to inspect objects that are too small to be

seen by naked eye. It is commonly used for medical and scientific purposes.

\
 Chapter 2

REVIEW RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

According to Aguilar et.al (2018) Humanity makes about 300 million tons of

plastics every year.And half of it is used only once (like bags and wrappings)

Approximately 10% of it is recycled and the rest goes to garbage dumps/landfills and

rivers. According to a recent study 10 rivers (2 in Africa and 8 in Asia) Transport 90 % of

all this plastic that ends up in oceans. The scale of pollution is awful and many of us don't

even realize how bad the situation is.

According to Gadhose et.al (2018) Due to the growing concern over

environmental problems of these plastic materials interest has shifted towards the

development and promoting the use of "bio plastic" Bio plastic is a term used for

sustainable packaging materials derived from renewable resources i.e. produced from

agro/food etc. And which are considered safe to be used in food applications. To enhance

the mechanical properties and water barrier properties it can be blended easily with other

polymer as well as Nano fillers.

According to Wesley & Sons (2012) the use of starch as an alternative bio plastic

can help to reduce the amount of waste and increase the recycle material. By using of

biodegradable much film and bio catering item the amount of waste material (400 up=0)

and increasing the recycling rate (0=up to 50%) will be the result of the product. The use

of endogenous waste into homogenous can make a bio plastic for beneficial waste

management.
 According to Mose and Moranga (2019) recently a bio plastic from Nano

composites gaining attention because of their superior property. Nano composites consist

of a polymer matrix reinforced with Nano dimensional particles instead of the

conventional micro dimensional fillers and it helps the both physical and mechanical

properties.

According to Abolibda (2015) this study shows that a simple quaternary

ammonium salt combined with hydrogen bond donor (HBD) forms effective modifiers

that produce flexible plastics with good mechanical properties that are comparable to

some poleaxing plastics. Starch is one of the most common polymers making it one of the

possible effective components of plastic.

According to Averous (2014) in making biodegradable multiphase systems based

on plasticized starch (PLS) There are many material can be used in making biodegradable

plastic but these materials should be rich in starch content. The texture of the

biodegradable plastics depends on the material used if it is soft or rigid and the step by

step process in the experiment.

According to Gutierrez et .al (2012) There are three process or steps in making

biodegradable plastic. Which varies in the ingredients and the process how it was done?

The durability and tensile strength of the starch based biodegradable plastic depends on

the amount of starch and on the process how the biodegradable plastics are made. The

plastics can be improved by following process. Compression molding based manufacture

extrusion and combination of both and adding more starch.

 According to Suryan et.al (2016) Bio composites plastics are plastics that will

decompose in nature with the assistance of microorganism. Cassava starch as the main

material of plastic has great potential in Indonesia because this plant there is different

starch crops. The results showed that the concentration of Cassava starch with the best

physical and mechanical properties is 50% (b/u) and glycerol 1.5% (u/u) of ten bio

plastics was reinforced by nanoclcys structure of bio plastic change with shift of peak

angle to about 20 of 17-4 and 20%.

According to Kaur et.al. (2016) starch was extracted from cassava by peeling

chopping grinding with water for 5 minutes filtration decantation and drying at 55° for

one hour percentage of starch obtained was 25%. Flour was prepared from cassava by

peeling grating drying in hot air oven at 55° for 24 hours and then milling. Percentage of

flour obtained was 40% while that of flour after extraction of starch was 12%.

Based on the study of Maulida et.al. 2016. Making starch based plastics with the

help of microcrystalline cellulose (MMC) from cassava peel. The production enhances

the density water uptake and tensile strength of a plastic with the help of finer transform

informed spectroscopy. After the preparation results showed there are hydrogen bonds

between the starch of cassava peek and microcrystalline cellulose (MMC). The results

showed that the addition of MMC decreased the elongation of the plastics characteristics.

It shows that the combination of cassava peel starch and MCC can excel the non-

biodegradable plastics which may help to our environment.

According to Ray and Swain (2015) Cassava is one of the richest source of starch

camote and cassava are alike that's why there is a possibility that camote has the richest
source of starch also cassava starch serve as raw material for production of a number of

industrial fermented products some of that is bio ethanol bio plastics acetone butenol etc.

According to Greenfield and Smith (2015) Taro samples were analyzed for water

protein fat fructose glucose and etc. That may help us to use this taro for making bio

plastic that no other has. The taro has a lot of benefits like starch organic acid dietary

fiber ash sodium potassium iron calcium magnesium and zinc that we can need for

making bio plastic.

 Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

Experimental Design and Treatment

The researchers will conduct an experiment regarding the quality of the

biodegradable plastic from camote starch and taro leaves extract as the main materials.

To test the quality of the biodegradable plastic, the researchers will conduct three sets of

experiments that will utilize three treatments with varying amount of camote starch.

Treatment 1 (T1) will consist of 100 ml of taro leaves extract 20 g of camote starch 5 g so

sodium hydroxide 10 ml of vinegar and 40 ml of glycerin. For treatment 2 (T2) it will

consist of 100 ml of taro leaves extract 40 g of camote starch 5 g so sodium hydroxide 10

ml of vinegar and 40 ml of glycerin and for treatment 3 (T3) same amount of taro leaves

extract sodium hydroxide vinegar glycerin and 60 g of camote starch. Each treatment will

compose of 3 replications of the ideal biodegradable plastic that will be compare to the

commercialized ones by using rocks as weights.

Source of Materials

Camote (Ipomoea batatas) and Taro (Colocasia esculenta) leaves extract will

serve as the main materials for the study. Beakers and Weighing scale will be used to

measure the amount of camote starch taro leaves vinegar sodium hydroxide and glycerin.

Spatula stove and casserole will be used mainly for cooking and boiling and it will be

provided by the researchers. Glycerin for the flexibility of the biodegradable plastic Taro

leaves extract and sodium hydroxide as the solution vinegar to easily dissolve the camote

starch to the solution will be bought from the supermarket.

Procedures of the Study

a. Gathering the materials:

The researchers will gather 120 g of camote starch 300 g of taro leaves for the durability

and biodegradability of the biodegradable plastic 15 g of sodium hydroxide 30 ml of

vinegar and 120 ml of glycerin to make the biodegradable plastic more flexible and

proceed with the experimentation.

b. Cutting the taro leaves:

After gathering the taro leaves the researchers will cut it into strips.

c. Gathering the extract of Taro leaves

Put 300 g of taro leaves in the casserole together with the water to get its extract it will be

boiled for about 15 minutes.

d. Mixing the Taro leaves extract and Sodium hydroxide:

After boiling the Taro leaves the extract will be mixed to the sodium hydroxide when it

cools like a tap water and will act as the solution.

e. Preparing the biodegradable plastic:

Put 20 g/40g/60g of camote starch and constant amount of taro leaves extract (100 ml)

sodium hydroxide (5 g) vinegar (10 ml) and glycerin (40 ml) to the casserole then mixed

it together well before applying any heat. Next continue the mixing process until the

substance becomes a sticky gel. Lastly use the spatula to pour the gel like substance into

the tray or sheet of aluminum foil.

f. Molding:

After preparing the mixture of the biodegradable plastic spread it on the tray and leaves it

for about 4 days under the sunlight.