AMPALUNGGAY SOAP

In Partial Fulfillment of the Course

Requirement in Research

Presented by:
Josha Alfajora
George McNaughton
Bryan Gatcho

Presented to:
Dr. Marilou Juachon-Panlilio
Mr. Arnold Antiporda
Ms. Sherrlene Uy
Ms. Gemini Malubay

October 23, 2013

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to thank a lot of people who contributed to make this investigatory project

possible. We would like to thank our classmates for helping us guide each other in making our

research papers especially Paolo Barrameda for accompanying us in search for rare ingredients

of our soap and letting us obtain malunggay leaves from their front yard’s malunggay tree. We
would also like to thank our families because they have provided our necessities to buy our

ingredients, to search for references, and to create our research paper for our investigatory

project. We are thankful to one of our team mate’s father, James Francis Alfajora, who has let us

use his kitchen and help document the procedures of our ampalaya-malunggay soap. We would

like to thank our beloved school, Glendale School, for giving us the knowledge of Chemistry to

know the safety precautions of our experiment specifically our Science Teacher, Sir Gemini

Malubay. He has also helped us find where our rare ingredient can be bought. We owe it to T.

Sherlenne Uy for giving us the idea of ampalaya-malunggay soap, guiding us on creating our

investigatory project, motivating us that our product can be possible and of course, inspiring us

to become successful people since the day we met her. We would like to thank each other for

being a productive and cooperative teammate. Lastly, we would like to thank God for giving us

blessings and opportunities to be where we are right now.

ABSTRACT

It has been observed that people nowadays are very much concern with the appearance and

color of their skin, so our group decided to invent a new kind of soap. We can offer it to the

people to help make their skin whiter, softer and fairer at an affordable price.

We used one whole ampalaya, half pound of malunggay leaves, lye, coconut oil and

lavender fragrance. We cut the ampalaya into pieces and mixed with a little amount of water and

blended it. Then we chopped and minced half pound of malunggay leaves. We put the ampalaya

and malunggay leaves into separate bowls. We mixed a little amount of water into the lye and

left it to chill. We put the coconut oil in a pot and heated it and after heating we put it in another
container and slowly add the lye with it and mixed them vigorously for about an hour and a half

and put the blended ampalaya and minced malunggay into the mixture and continuously stirring

the mixture until it became more liquid.

After mixing all the ingredients, we add lavender fragrance oil into the mixture then put

in into a soap mold and covered it with cloth to make it hard. After a few days the soap hardened

and we took it from the mold and set it in a dry place to cure for about two months. After two

months, the soap is now ready to be used.

CHAPTER ONE:

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Introduction

Here in the Philippines, the production of beauty soaps has increased as time passed.

Cheche V. Moral of the Philippine Daily Inquirer said that skincare in the Philippines is twenty

two billion pesos market and in 2004, Synovate, a global market research company, conducted a

survey wherein Filipino women has the highest rate of 50% usage of whitening products among

Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Filipinos see fair skin and young skin, as one of the standards of beauty and being

attractive has become a basis of being accepted in the society because most people will judge

you by the way you look. It seems like there is discrimination within our society. Frankie, a
blogger from skinbeautifulblog.wordpress.com, has stated a few considerations of why it is so

important to be beautiful. She said, “attractive people are more likely to have dates and have

many friends” and “attractive people are 2-5 times more likely to be hired for a position” while

“unattractive people are most likely to be assumed or accused of committing a crime.”

Advertisements are also one of the factors that made us think that fair skin is beautiful. Like the

Ponds commercial, it promises a more desirable you if you purchase and use their beauty

products. Another factor is the influence of the Spaniards. They have this colonial mentality that

people with fair skin are privileged.

A lot of Filipinos purchase this expensive soap for the benefit of having a beautiful skin

although it is a big addition to an individual's expenses. One bar of papaya whitening soap costs

80-290 pesos and it only lasts 1-2weeks. One of the most famous whitening soaps is Pervil Soap

that costs 100-120 pesos.

Statement Of Objectives

This investigatory project aims to make alternative organic beauty soaps. Nowadays,

Philippines are in the state of being economically challenged because in the first semester of

2012, 27.9% of the population in the Philippines is below the poverty line. Since Filipinos could

not afford expensive beauty products, this investigatory project aims to help the society meet

their wants and their small budgets by creating a beauty soap using ampalaya and malunggay

therefore we also aim to make it cheaper than other beauty products in the market today.

In order to achieve this, we need to search for the contents of the beauty products and the

two vegetables and then study what that nutrient or ingredient does for our skin. The knowledge

of this will lead us to having our hypothesis of the product. People tend to avoid these herbs
because of its unlikely taste but our experiment will prove that ampalaya and malunggay are still

useful to the body without consuming it and that it can possible and effective as skincare

products by conducting an experiment.

Significance of the Study

The importance of this study is to use one of the healthiest and most unnoticeable veggies

as skincare soaps. Skin is one of the body parts that keep us healthy. To take care of our skin, we

daily use soaps to clean off those dirt, odors, and germs. We need to wash away the germs to

prevent it from getting under the surface of our skin. Using the healthiest vegetables to become a

daily used soap, maybe the biggest breakthrough of skin care products.

This study is for everyone in our society but most of it is the ones who want to achieve

fair skin and remove fine-lines. One of ABS-CBNnews.com's articles, "White Skin Comes With

A Price"by Leilani Chavez, says that a 26-year-old female named Jeimie had used almost all the

whitening products in the market. She started trying whitening products since her early 20's even

though she was born with a fair-complexion. She uses whitening products to maintain her skin

color. People, who are in 20's, both female and male, can have the benefit of having their skins

whitened by our product. Then at the age of the 20’s, with all the work and stress, the question

“when will my wrinkles show?” will pop-out of your mind. Women and men in 20’s could really

have wrinkles. There are some 20-year-old adults who already gets surgical procedures to

remove or avoid getting wrinkles so as you can see, not only 40’s adults gets wrinkles according

Tanya Sharma from skincare.lovetoknow.com. So with the help of our beauty soap, they could

also remove their fine-lines.

 Scope and Delimitation

We have studied a few things to support our idea of making an ampalaya-malunggay

soap. Our study covers the content of ampalaya, malunggay, and beauty products. We studied

each ingredient's use to our skin. This serves as proof that our idea could be possibly made but it

does not mean that it is proven effective. Our study does not cover the external effectiveness of

ampalaya and malunggay on our skin. We also studied the production and usage of whitening

products in the Philippines to know how much help could our product be, in our society because

our aim is to use the worth of these vegetables as a convenient beauty soap. Lastly, we have to

examine the ways of making soaps in order to create our very own recipe of ampalaya-

malunggay soap.
 CHAPTER TWO:

REVIEW OF RELATED

LITERATURES AND STUDIES

Facts about Ampalaya

Ampalaya is known as bitter melon. Its scientific name is Momordica charanti.

Ampalaya has many names around the world. Here in the Philippines, it is called ampalaya while

in other countries like U.S.A, China, India, and Japan; it is respectively called bitter gourd and

balsam pear, fukwa, kerela, and nigai uri. Ampalayas are considered as a cucurbit because it is a

member of the gourd family. The gourd family is climbing vines, herbs, and rarely, shrubs or

trees. Ampalayas are particularly found in Asian countries because it normally grows in hot

humid areas but it is only cropped once, every year. Ampalaya contains Vitamin A 9%,

Thiamine 2%, Riboflavin 2%, Niacin 2%, Vitamin B5 2%, Vitamin B6 2%, Vitamin C 130%,

Folate 17%, Calcium 2%, Iron 2%, Magnesium 4%, Phosphorus 3%, Copper 2%, and Zinc 5%.

As you can see, there are various macronutrients and benefits that can be obtained from

ampalaya. That is why W. G. Goreja can consider ampalaya as one of the best medicines around

the globe according to his Bitter Melon: Nature’s Anti-Diabetic because it is the best alternative

herbal medicine that cures diabetes but according to my other references, it can also treat liver
problems and HIV. Here in the Philippines, they are many dishes that include ampalaya, one of

the famous example is Pinakbet from Ilocos Norte.

Facts about Malunggay

Malunggay is known as horseradish tree or drumstick tree but it is called in different

names in different regions here in the Philippines like kalunggay in Bicolano, Kamalongan,

Malunggay in Bisaya, Kalamunge in Pampango, Arunggay in Iluko, and Marunggay in

Pangasinense. Its scientific name is Moringa oleifera Lamk. It is also commonly found in

tropical countries like the Philippines. Unlike ampalaya, it grows on trees and can planted in

various soils but thrives best in fertile, well-drained sandy loams. Malunggay is planted

throughout the country especially in the Central and Northern provinces. In our observation,

there are many planted malunggay trees in the backyards of the citizens in Quezon City. Like

ampalaya, malunggay has various uses. Some of our Filipino dishes like Tinola is mixed with

malunggay leaves. The twigs of malunggay are extracted as oil and used to become a cosmetic.

Malunggay is also called a “Miracle Tree” because curing ailments is the most beneficial use of

malunggay. Malunggay leaves are loaded with nutrients because a gram of malunggay leaves

also contain two times the protein in milk. Likewise, it contains three times the potassium in

bananas and four times the vitamin A in carrots. Health nutritionists claim that an ounce of

malunggay has the same Vitamin C content as seven oranges. Asthma, ulcers, and gout are few

of many ailments that malunggay cures or treats.

Facts about Soap

 In a dictionary, soap is defines as “a substance used for washing and cleansing purposes,

usually made by treating a fat with an alkali, as sodium or potassium hydroxide, and consisting

chiefly of the sodium or potassium salts of the acids contained in the fat.” If we would visualize

soaps, it looks like a rectangular or sometimes, oval bars that we can usually buy in supermarkets

around the globe. Soaps clean the surface of our body to remove dirt and protect us from germs

with the presence of water. We daily use soap to maintain a good hygiene and avoid bad odors.

Soaps can also be moisturizers to help our skin become fair, young, soft, smooth, or healthy.

Most people doesn’t know that washing our hands properly and regularly would prevent diseases

like flus to attach them. People should be reminded that our hands are the most usable part our

body. We use it to eat, write, count money, opening doors, dialing and such and as we touch

public objects, germs from diseases are passed onto our hands and throughout our body. We

wouldn’t want to have a sick so it is important to wash our hands. As the Safeguard soap says,

“safeguard, laban sa limang banta (diarrhea, pneumonia, colds, cough, and skin rashes)”
 CHAPTER THREE:

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Materials

Ingredients

 One whole Ampalaya or Bitter Melon

 Malunggay

 About 55grams of Lye

 200ml of mineral water

 500 ml of Minola coconut oil

 20ml of lavender fragrance oil

Materials

 6 round stainless molds

 Glass stirring rod

 Glass measuring cup

 2 large pots

Procedure
 We decided to make our soap out of a few organic ingredients. We started off by cutting

one whole ampalaya into pieces with a knife and setting it aside. Then we took the malunggay

leaves off its stems. After that, we put them into separate bowls and blended them separately in

the blender. We put a little water with our ampalaya so that it becomes a thick liquid while our

malunggay needed extra cutting to become minced after being blended because we needed it to

become dry bits.

After we set those aside, we put our gloves on and dropped about fifty grams of lye into

two hundred milliliters of water. We observed the chemical reaction as we dropped the lye in the

water our solution heats up. We mixed it until the mixture’s cloudy appearance disappears. And

while the lye is almost ready, we then put five hundred milliliters of coconut oil in a pot to heat

because the temperature of the oil needs to be at least five to ten Celsius apart from the

temperature of the lye and if not, it can also react and burn. When the oil was heated, we put it in

a separate container and slowly put the lye with it.

We mixed it very vigorously for about one and a half hour. As we mixed it, the mixture

becomes dark. Then we put the blended ampalaya and minced malunggay into the mixture. After

that, we stirred it again with a spoon just until it became one whole green liquid base. It had an

unpleasing smell to it so we also added about ¾ of a twenty milliliters of lavender scented

fragrance oil to the mixture.

Then we finally poured it into the molders and set it aside with a cloth on top of the

molds so that it absorb the substances that it will release and help the increase the speed of
hardening the soap. After a few days, the soap hardened enough for us to be able to take them

out of their molds so we took them out of their molds then set it in a dry place to let the soap cure

for about two months so it can finally be used.

Timetable of Activities

SEPTEMBER 24 (Tuesday) Getting the idea

SEPTEMBER 25 (Wednesday) Researching and proving of idea

SEPTEMBER 30 (Monday) Planning of experiment and materials

OCTOBER 2 (Wednesday) Deadline of Statement of Objectives

Deadline of Methodology

OCTOBER 3 (Thursday) Testing of experiment

OCTOBER 6 (Sunday) – OCTOBER Observation of Result

21 (Monday)

OCTOBER 7 (Monday) Deadline of Results and Discussion

Deadline of Conclusion

Deadline of Recommendation

OCTOBER 12 (Saturday) Deadline of First Complete Draft

OCTOBER 15 (Tuesday) Deadline of Final Research Paper

OCTOBER 21 (Monday) Blog: Investigatory Project

OCTOBER 23 (Thursday) Presentation of Investigatory Project

 CHAPTER FOUR:

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF

DATA

Analysis

Our study is about creating a soap product with the combination of ampalaya or bitter

melon and malunggay. A French researcher said that organic products have high nutritional

quality and safety and so there have been a lot of studies regarding the use and benefits of

organic products such as soaps. Research has shown the significant improvements in health care

industries that involve the aid of organic products. According to Cancer Prevention Coalition,

most of the products in the cosmetics market are one the causes of cancer. Because it contains
ingredients such as mercury, which is a very dangerous element, and because many people are

concerned about this, healthcare industries are trying to create organic products for their

consumers’ safety. As I have mentioned earlier, the ampalaya-malunggay soap positions itself as

an anti-aging and whitening soap. One of its benefits is the suppleness of the skin after the soap

is used or applied. It felt smooth on the skin and it didn’t show allergic reactions after being used

it and after the following days. The ingredients that we used are all-organic and individually has

a benefit to skin. The scented smell of our product comes from the lavender extract oil, which is

also organic.

The soap that we formulated was successful because it solidified and it somewhat turned

into a soap. But in a way it was not successful because the lye was burned by the over-heated

coconut oil. We need both lye and coconut oil to have the same temperature. But since the lye

was burned, it took us quite time to mix the ingredients. After mixing all the ingredients we saw

that bubbles were starting to build up while we were transferring them on the container.

When we used the product, it wasn’t so hard because the time wasn’t sufficient to harden

the soap but when we used it was gentle to the skin and does not cause any allergic reaction.

Summary

In summary, the experiment still turned out to be pretty successful. For our first time

making soap, the results were very good. The outcome was not perfect for a few reasons like the

solution seemed burnt, the mixture didn’t reach trace with our efforts of mixing and the soap

itself looked a little bit too oily which could have caused it to not solidify properly but it’s

actually fine. Our oil turned out to be too hot compared to the lye solution so the lye reacted to
the oil and burned. Then after that we think that we did not stir the mixture properly enough to

the stage that it would be able to be molded into soap or is called by soap makers as “trace”.

Soap making is not an easy task to do specially because you are dealing with lye or

sodium hydroxide that is a very reactive chemical. Our goal was to make cheap and organic skin

care soap. But the truth is that there is really no such thing as a one hundred percent “organic

soap” because the main ingredient needed for it is lye, which is a chemical itself.

We conclude that making soap is fun and can be easy but requires much research before

even daring to deal with it. Our group definitely did not lack in research but we were short on

some materials. We did not have a thermometer at that instance which is important for people

who aren’t experienced in making soap and measuring the temperature of the lye and oil so the

mixture burnt a little bit and that is why we think that our soap solution did not reach

saponification properly. We also did not have an electric mixer that is required when making

soap so that the solution thickens up easily and that is the reason we assume why the solution just

did not thicken at all. We learnt through the experiment that exact measurements were really

needed so that the mixture saponificates.

Recommendations

We suggest that to anyone who is thinking of making soap for themselves for and reason

should do some proper research before deciding to do it. In some instances, buying soap could be

more preferable or ideal than taking a risk and making your own because not everyone is

successful on their first or even second try. But if you really want to make your own soap, do not

just research, try to ask someone who has already made soap or is making it for a living for

advice. And finally, if you are set on making soap, be sure to have the proper and complete
materials you need; like a thermometer and electric mixer specially when it is your first time

making soap.

If you try or attempt making soap for the time, we would strongly suggest for you to use

a large pot when mixing the oil(s) with the lye solution because if you make a mistake like us on

getting the right temperature, the mixture will react and will bubble a lot and if you’re not doing

it in a large pot, it overflows and it will certainly get very messy; you would not want that to

happen. Also be sure to have proper measuring materials that will withstand lye and high

temperatures. And if you’re going to use a spoon or any other mixing apparatus besides an

electric mixer, make sure it is made of a material that wouldn’t possibly melt in lye. And of

course, safety is important so wear gloves, goggles and a mask when you are doing the procedure

and always have vinegar near you so in case you get lye on your hands or any other part of your

body, you can easily wash it off with vinegar as water wouldn’t work.
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