CARDONER 10

ADVANCED

THE UTILIZATION OF
PINEAPPLE
(ANANAS COMOSUS)
FRUIT WASTE AS A BASE
MATERIAL FOR THE
PRODUCTION OF BIOPLASTIC
ANTONIO, JULIAN MARCOS RAPHAEL L.
BALGOS, ROLANDO III N.
LAYUG, JOSE LORENZO Y.
SALIRE, RIVER B.

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY IS TO DETERMINE THE

FEASIBILITY OF THE UTILIZATION OF PINEAPPLE FRUIT
WASTE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BIOPLASTIC.  MORE
SPECIFICALLY, TO PRODUCE BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC
MADE FROM PINEAPPLE (ANANAS COMOSUS) FRUIT WASTE
AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO PRODUCING SYNTHETIC PLASTICS.
THE PINEAPPLE PEELS WERE FIRST MIXED WITH WATER AND
BOILED IN A BEAKER. THE MIXTURE WAS THEN BLENDED TO
FORM A PASTE. LASTLY, 3ML OF HCL, 2ML OF GLYCEROL AND
3ML OF NAOH WERE ADDED AND THE MIXTURE WAS PLACED
IN THE OVEN. DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS OF HCL AND
NAOH WERE ALSO USED IN ORDER YIELD VARIOUS RESULTS.
THE DATA REVEALED THAT THE BIOPLASTIC WITH A 6M
CONCENTRATION OF HCL AND NAOH HAD THE HIGHEST
TENSILE STRENGTH, FOLLOWED BY THE 8M AND 4M
CONCENTRATIONS. WITHIN THE DATA GATHERED, THE 2M
HCL AND NAOH CONCENTRATION BIOPLASTIC DECAYED THE
FASTEST, FOLLOWED BY THE 4M AND 8M CONCENTRATIONS.
 
BY USING AN ECO-FRIENDLY WAY OF PRODUCING
PLASTIC FOR EVERYDAY USE, THIS RESEARCH STUDY WILL
ADDRESS SDG #12 BUT GOES BEYOND PURSUING THE GOAL
OF RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION BY 1 - LESSENING THE
FOOD WASTE CONTRIBUTED BY COMMUNITIES; 2 -
REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS FROM THE PRODUCTION OF
SYNTHETIC PLASTICS AND 3 - STEMMING THE WORSENING
PLASTIC POLLUTION BY UTILIZING FRUIT WASTES IN THE
PRODUCTION OF BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS. THE SUCCESS
OF THE PRESENT STUDY, THOUGH NOT GROUND-BREAKING
IS NONETHELESS A NOVEL ONE AND WILL CONTRIBUTE TO A
WIDER SCIENTIFIC FIELD OF STUDY IN THE SEARCH FOR
SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO THE WORLD’S WORSENING
PROBLEM OF WASTE AND PLASTIC POLLUTION.