CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Background of the Study

Taro or gabi and its scientific name is Colocasia esculenta is one of the most

important root in the Philippines. Notwithstanding its widespread cultivation, this crop is

commonly planted in areas not really suitable for its culture since traditional staples (i.e,

rice and corn) and vegetables are given priority to occupy good production area.

Although Gabi has the ability to grow in marginal and submarginal areas, it normally

grows well and produces high yield when cultivated in more suitable areas with the right

soil and rainfall needed by the crop. Colocasia esculenta is a fast-growing herbaceous

plant that orginates from a large corm and can grow to 4 ft. (1.5 m) in height. It has been

intentionally introduced in many tropical and subtropical regions to be used as a food

crop and animal fodder.

“C. esculenta has several adaptations that aid its survival as a weed. It has the ability to

reproduce both sexually by seeds and vegetatively by corms, tubers, and root suckers,

and it is adapted to grow in a great variety of substrates and habitats ranging from full

sun to deep shaded areas.” (Safo-Kantaka, 2004). It is mainly cultivated for its starchy

stem tubers and corms. These corms are eaten boiled, fried or roasted as a side dish or

are used to produce starch and flour. One of the most important functions of taro root in

the diet is its role in digestion. The high level of dietary fiber found in taro root makes it

very important for supporting our gastrointestinal health. Fiber helps to add bulk to our

bowel movements, thereby helping food move through the digestive tract and facilitating
improved digestion. This can help to prevent certain conditions such as excess gas,

bloating, cramping, constipation, and even diarrhea. A healthy, regulated

gastrointestinal system can greatly boost your overall health and reduce your chances

of various types of cancer. Our research is to invent a waterproofing product using taro

(gabi) leaves which it is part of our study and it will help us create our own product.

Statement of the problem

This study wants to know the impact of waterproofing at Prk. 1 Moonstone Brgy.

Hinaplanon, Iligan City and there are some following questions to answer:

1. Is it possible that the extracted components from taro or gabi leaves can be used

as a substitute for waterproofing?

2. Is the extracted components of taro or gabi leaves can be harmful for the user?

3. Is it useful to the community of Prk. 1 Moonstone Brgy. Hinaplanon, Iligan City?

Significance of the Study

This research is aiming for contributing for the community specially to teenagers,

they are the targets of this research for they are so conscious about their things and the

researchers want to satisfy their inconveniences about their belongings. These

generation, they want to be presentable for other people because they want to interact

and attract others by what they wear. As one of these generations we aim for more

convenient, comfortable, safe and usable products for our daily use.
Limitation of the Study

Our study will be focused on how Colocasia esculenta leaves can be extracted

and a substitute as waterproofing. We will create some questions as a survey for the

people of the community. The respondents of our survey are the people of the Prk.1

Moonstone Brgy. Hinaplanon, Iligan City. This study will be conducted in Prk. 1

Moonstone Brgy. Hinaplanon, Iligan City because they have some taro plants detected

in that particular area. We will start our survey when our research will be accepted and

after that we will get the permission for us to ask some questions in the community.

Operational Definition

These are the unfamiliar words that can be seen within this chapter:

1. Cultivation - the process of trying to acquire or develop a quality or skill.

2. Submarginal - not allowing profitable farming or cultivation.

3. Corm - a rounded underground storage organ present in plants such as

crocuses, gladioli, and cyclamens, consisting of a swollen stem base covered

with scale leaves.

4. Subtropical - relating to or characteristic of the regions adjacent to or bordering

on the tropics.

5. Fodder - food, especially dried hay or feed, for cattle and other livestock.

6. Gastrointestenal - relating to the stomach and the intestines.

 CHAPTER 2

Review of Related Literature

“Ever noticed how raindrops simply bead-up and slide off from gabi (taro) leaves?

This is made possible by numerous tiny waxy spikes on the surface of its leaves that

cause the extreme water-shedding preventing it from getting wet. This phenomenon is

called the "lotus effect" referring to the same water repelling characteristic exhibited by

the lotus leaves. This is also present in other insects and birds, notice how butterfly wings

don't get drenched from the rain and how water gently rolls off a duck's back.

Inspired by this common occurrence in nature, a team of chemists from the Philippine

Textile Research Institute (PTRI) endeavored to mimic this process and apply it to textiles.

With persistent research, the team from the Research and Development Division (RDD)

of the Institute successfully rendered pineapple and cotton blend fabrics water-repellent

using a familiar material: silver. The team submerged silver nanoparticles into silicone

oxide solution before applying it to various textiles. These nano-coatings create a bond

with the fabric creating hair-like structures as that of the gabi leaves.

"Compared with conventional water repellent finishes which literally forms a coating on

textile surfaces leaving them stiff, this PTRI-developed technology entails nanofinishing

which imparts nano-sized coating to the fabric maintaining the softness and breathability

of the material," explained Mr. Julius Leaño, head of the Chemical, Dyes, Auxiliaries, and

By-Product Utilization Section (CDABUS) of RDD.

Known for its anti-bacterial properties, silver nanoparticles are now being incorporated in

garments, beddings, pillows, and other fabrics. With careful research led by Ms. Jeannie
Lyn Cabansag of RDD, silver was also found to be active against common pathogens

causing pneumonia and skin infections, Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus

aureus, respectively.

"We have established a novel and very simple process of application that could readily

be adopted by textile industries, even the small and micro enterprises, to add value to

their products," shared Ms. Cabansag. "The combination of water repellence and anti-

microbial property of textiles could find potential application in outdoor garments and

packaging materials," she added.

This development is part of the Institute's new set of R & D programs which aims to

respond to the market's increasing demand for highly specialized textiles. These

programs involve advanced textile technologies from nanotechnology to bionano-fiber

and composites technology to develop intelligent, bio-functional and nano-functional

textiles and materials as well as green processing technologies.” (Joy Camille Baldo,

June 26, 2013) based on the content, they have created a water-repellent that uses

pineapple and cotton blend fabrics with a hint of silver to form like the leaves of gabi. All

of the experiments that they have conducted are very successful and safe to all users.

Waterproofing is also one of the useful product for this generation because they are all

sensitive to their important and useful things for their daily usage and they want to

preserve its beauty. But waterproofing products are only effective when you don’t want

your things to get wet specially when it’s raining.

“Borrowing from one of nature's most water-repellent surfaces--the leaf of the lotus

plant--scientists have developed a simple, inexpensive way to create synthetic coatings

with exceptional anti-wetting properties. Such coatings can help to reduce drag on ship
hulls, stain- and water-proof fabrics and improve separation processes in mining

industries.

The raincoats we wear to stay dry during stormy weather work because a special

coating on the fabric prevents water from soaking through the fibers. To determine how

water-repellent a given surface is, scientists look at the shape of a water droplet on that

surface. More precisely, they study the so-called contact--the angle formed by the

intersection of imaginary lines drawn tangent to the droplet surface and the fabric

surface. The more hydrophobic a substance is, the higher the contact angle and the

more spherical the water bead. Human skin, for example, is a hydrophobic surface with

a contact angle of about 90 degrees. Bird feathers and lotus leaves are considered

superhydrophobic, with contact angles of 150 and 170 degrees, respectively.

The surface of a lotus leaf is not perfectly smooth. Rather it has a porous texture much

like that of a sponge or bird's nest, albeit on a micrometer scale. The air trapped in the

crevices prevents water from adhering to the solid. Researchers led by H. Yildirim Erbil

of Kocaeli University in Turkey re-created this naturally superhydrophobic surface in

their laboratory by first dissolving polypropylene, a commercially available simple

plastic, in a solvent. They then added a precipitating agent and applied the solution to a

glass slide. After evaporating the solvent mixture in a vacuum oven, they had a highly

porous gel coating with a contact angle of 160 degrees and water-repelling capabilities

comparable with those of the lotus leaf. (The investigators applied their coating to other

substrates, too--aluminum foil and stainless steel, among them--and achieved similar
results.)

Superhydrophobic coatings already in use often require expensive materials and time-

intensive application procedures. The new findings, published in the current issue of the

journal Science, show that the water repellency of polypropylene can be significantly

increased through an easy processing step. The researchers thank the lotus flower:

"We mimicked nature to find a simple solution for a difficult technological problem."

” (Laura Wright, March 3, 2003) based on the content, lotus effect is also counted as

water repellent because it is a phenomenon where water easily drops out from the leaves

of gabi (taro) or lotus.

“Much of the inspiration for the creation of superhydrophobic surfaces has come from

nature, from plant such as the Sacred Lotus (Nulembo nucifera), where the micro-scale

papillae epidermal cells on the surfaces of the leaves are covered with nano-scale

epicuticular wax crystalloids. The combination of the surface roughness and the

hydrophobic wax coating produces a superhydrophobic wetting state on the leaves

allowing them to self-clean and easily shed water. Here a simple scale-up carbon

nanoparticle spray coating is presented that mimics the surface of the Sacred Lotus

leaves and can be applied to a wide variety of materials, complex structures, and flexible

substrates, rendering them super hydrophobic, with contact angles above 160°. The

sprayable mixture is produced by combining toluene, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), And

inherently hydrophobic rapeseed soot. The ability to spray the superhydrophobic coating

allows for the hydrophobisation of complex structures such a metallic meshes, which

allows for the production of flexible porous superhydrophobic materials that when formed
into U-shape channels, can be used to direct flows. The porous meshes, whilst being

superhydrophobic, are also oleophilic. Being both superhydrophobic and oleophilic allows

oil to pass through the mesh, whilst water remains on the surface. The meshes were

tested for their ability to separate mixtures of oil and water in a flow situation. When

silicone oil/water mixtures were passed over the meshes, all meshes tested were capable

of separating more than 93% of the oil from the mixture.” (Geraldi, N.R., Dodd, L.E., Xu,

B.B., Wood, D., Wells, G.G., McHale, G. and Newton, M.I., 2018) based on the

statement, the superhydrophobic component is made up of the combination of the surface

roughness and the hydrophobic wax coating which makes liquids like water slips through

the surface. Waterproofing is inspired by nature like that of the lotus flower (nulembo

nucifera), taro or gabi leaves (colocasia esculenta) and etc.

 CHAPTER 3

Methodology

We collected the needed data for us to have a guide on how we can easily

extract the components on our study which are the taro plants (colocasia exculenta).

The researchers need to gather data because this is the way of giving us the

information to complete our study in taro plants. By the influence of modern technology,

the internet and using the search engine Google, the researchers can easily get the

information or data for our study. Each of the researchers are cooperating for more data

and information to disseminate from each other and the readers. The survey will be

conducted within the community of Prk. 1 Hinaplanon Brgy. Hinaplanon, Iligan City

because the area is surrounded of taro plants (colocasia exculenta) and it will be

efficient for our data gathering about the plant.