Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

BatStateU-Alangilan
Alangilan, Batangas City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS

Chemical and Food Engineering Department

Viability of Taro (Colocasia Esculenta) as an Alternative Source for Secondary Packaging

Wraps

Members:
Aren Lorie Azucena
Angelika Buela
Franchezka Kylie Del Rosario
Kathlene Ann Espanol
Christian Simon

FE-2101

Environmental Science and Engineering

Submitted to:
Engr. Nico John Abratique

Date:
11/01/2021
 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
BatStateU-Alangilan
Alangilan, Batangas City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS

Chemical and Food Engineering Department

CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction
Packaging is an essential asset in production as it protects the product from all sorts of
external factors. Since plastic packaging gained traction, it took the world by storm. Plastic
packaging and plastics, in general, have become so ubiquitous that it has become a serious global
issue. The Philippines is no exception, as reports say that around more than 163 million plastic
sachets are consumed by Filipinos daily. Being a pollutant, along with its popularity, is a
multitude of problems that needs resolving.

Indications point to half of all produced plastics are being made for one-time use, and
most packaging includes or is composed entirely of single-use plastics. Other products require
using more unnecessary layers of plastic packaging. Because of the problems associated with
plastic wastes, LGUs have already started banning one-time-use plastic packaging in some parts
of the country.

Online shopping is a convenient way of shopping. Even some of the widely used social
media apps took on promoting e-commerce by featuring marketplaces. This COVID-19
pandemic. With the whole country being in lockdown, many consumers relied on online
shopping for convenience, as the imposed lockdowns made it hard to do groceries. Online
shopping generates plastic wastes through packaging. Express delivery companies wrap all
products with plastics they specifically use. Some wraps would serve only as secondary
packaging, which sometimes causes excessive packaging and only would contribute to more
plastic pollution.

In 2019, San Miguel, a conglomerate corporation that advocates sustainability programs,

partnered with Bioresins Corp., as they aim to full utilization of biodegradable plastic packaging.
Smaller companies like Garnier, Echostore, Fluffy Pwets, RRAW, Akma Active, and BARF use
biodegradable plastic materials in their products. Biodegradable plastics degrade naturally and
could even leave no trace materials that would otherwise pollute the environment. JuanBag,
Loop., Repack, and Zippies offer reusable and returnable packaging services. Delivery service

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 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
BatStateU-Alangilan
Alangilan, Batangas City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS

Chemical and Food Engineering Department

Fifth Express ships products in compostable mailers. Orera Technology, EcoJoy, EcoNest,
Swisspac, Econtainer, United Polyresins Inc., and Ranpak PH provide eco-friendly packaging to
businesses. The Good Trade PH, which also provides sustainable packaging, even challenged
e-commerce companies like Lazada and Shopee to work alongside them for more sustainable
packaging and eco-friendly waste disposal.

Packaging wastes is a problem that needs resolving. It takes only an average of 12

minutes for plastic packaging to transfer from a shopper's hands to the trash can. An estimated 12
million products were sold by Shopee last December 12, 2020, alone. These products are all
accompanied by delivery packaging wastes, contributing to the already worsening plastic
pandemic (Ramos, Vice President of Oceana Philippines). This concerned environmentalists
since there are currently no laws that regulate the wastes brought by the e-commerce industry.

A sustainable solution regarding this issue is the alteration of source of delivery packaging.
Synthetic biodegradable plastics are commonly oil / petroleum based which do not fully
decompose and leave toxic residue for the soil and environment to absorb. Starch based
bioplastics such as cassava and potato starch are known root-crops that have been proven to be
viable alternatives for this production along with synthesizers such as amylose and glycerol. The
crops pose efficient physical-chemical properties in order to become a biodegradable packaging
material and additionally, cost-efficient and reliable. It is also classified as common food waste
in the locale due to overproduction.

While several studies have already existed, the researchers view the addition of another
alternative source from a local food waste crop could be a vital contributing factor in addressing
the issue. Taro (Colocasia Esculenta), is an indigenous type of root crop that is commonly used
for food dishes and is infused with local desserts such as ube kakanin or sweetened jams. It is
also a prominent root vegetable in the Philippines with similar levels of starch content. With
reference to its characteristics, this study reviews the viability of Taro (Colocasia Esculenta)
as an effective starch-based bioplastic alternative for secondary delivery packaging.

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 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
BatStateU-Alangilan
Alangilan, Batangas City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS

Chemical and Food Engineering Department

Statement of the Problem

With Cassava and potato starch acknowledged to be an efficient source for alternative plastic
packaging, the study aims to address the problem regarding the feasibility of Taro (Colocasia
Esculenta) to be a similar source for plastic packaging. In order to dissert the this issue, the
study shall aim to answer the following:

1. What are the physicochemical properties of Taro (Colocasia Esculenta) that estimates it
as an alternative - organic material for bioplastic packaging?

2. Under the characteristics of biodegradable plastic, how do the correlated studies

materialize Taro (Colocasia Esculenta) in terms of :

2.1. Density
2.2. Elasticity
2.3. Tensile Strength and Thickness
2.4. Water - Absorption
2.5. Biodegradability

3. What are the similarities and differences of the physi-mechanical properties between
Cassava Starch and Taro ( Colocasia Esculenta )?
4. Is there a significant physico-mechanical propertie/s of Taro (Colocasia Esculenta)
compared to other materials?
5. Why are starch based bioplastics environmentally efficient compared to oil-based
biodegradable plastics?

Significance of the Study

The aim of this study is to determine the feasibility of taro as an alternative source based
upon characteristic resemblance to cassava. The study will be significant to:

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 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
BatStateU-Alangilan
Alangilan, Batangas City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS

Chemical and Food Engineering Department

Farmers. This study will provide the farmers knowledge to convert food waste to a new
material, besides to produce and provide more resources of root crops such as taro to serve as
another source of income.

Environment. This study provides an alternative solution in addressing plastic waste

through the utilization of food waste. Plastic wastes that are spreading in the environment can be
lessened by using plastics that are easy to decompose, so the researchers present the viability of
taro as an alternative source of secondary plastic wraps to make a source of more biodegradable
plastics that can be used in the markets.

Local Packaging Industry. This study will provide alternative sources of material such
as the use of taro that can be used to make eco-friendly packaging wraps. This is to give them
insight in paying attention to the purchases in order to lessen and consume plastic waste by using
eco-friendly packaging wraps in preserving the environment. Packaging poses a need for
broader innovation regarding the material purpose and compositions, for instance, local food
waste utilization to develop appropriate eco-friendly products that can convert all the
components present in the waste into valuable products and lessen the amount of waste going to
landfill.

Local sellers and Consumers. This study will provide an understanding on the local
sellers and consumers in the Philippines to limit the use of plastics and use biodegradable
materials in buying and selling products or services at either commercial, individual, or national
and international levels.

Batangas State University. The university will have an awareness of the potentiality of
taro as an alternative source of new substance to produce more friendly material to be distributed
in the community that they can improve in the future. This will also improve the students
technical skills who are working for their research paper who are residing in the university.

Future Researchers. This study will provide an understanding on root crop as an

alternative packaging material in biodegradable plastic production. This will facilitate and
support researchers on conducting an in-depth study to expand much more information about the
impacts of using non- biodegradable materials such as plastics. Moreover, future researchers may

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 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
BatStateU-Alangilan
Alangilan, Batangas City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS

Chemical and Food Engineering Department

also use this as a reference on their own research related to this topic and to provide them as well
with the information needed in their study.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

The objective of this study is to assess the characteristics of Taro (Colocasia Esculenta) as
a viable source for the production of starch-based bioplastics. Under this notion, the
physio-chemical and mechanical properties of taro shall be covered. Additionally, similar and
acknowledged locale root-crops such as cassava and sweet potato will be given a brief
description with the same basis of information for taro tubes. The paper shall also discuss the
general definition of starch-based and oil-based biodegradable plastic. The problem of the study
shall centralize Taro as a starch-based root crop gathered within the Philippines locale and its
feasibility to become a secondary plastic packaging for parcel delivery purposes.

The dissertation of the literature review shall be limited to the findings and discussion of
related articles involving studies about the chemical composition of Taro (Colocasia Esculenta)
and its recorded performances under mechanical and physical tests on being a biodegradable
plastic. i.e. tensile strength, water-absorption, density, etc. The paper shall not focus on the
performance of the crop based on long-term and real-life utilization of the supposed product. It
shall address the thesis statement based on a literature review and theoretical perspective.

Definition of terms

Biodegradable

According to Cataquis and Dancel (2019), a material is biodegradable when it is converted

into a safe source of carbon dioxide by microorganisms without toxic residue.

Bioplastic

A form of plastic material that could be purposed for sealing, storage, packaging, etc,
depending on its composition. It is based on natural as opposed to synthetic material such as
PLA.

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 Republic of the Philippines
BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
BatStateU-Alangilan
Alangilan, Batangas City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS

Chemical and Food Engineering Department

Cassava

According to Oxford Languages, cassava (Manihot esculenta) is “the starchy tuberous root
of a tropical tree, used as food in tropical countries but requiring careful preparation to remove
traces of cyanide from the flesh”.

Physio-chemical

A property that refers to both the physiological, and chemical aspects and processes of a
particular biological substance or material.

Physio-mechanical

A descriptive analysis of the physical properties of a substance in a condition where

mechanical processes occur.

Starch

Starch is an organic chemical compound that is produced from tubers, roots and other
green plants. It is composed of long chains of carbon molecules that execute similar properties as
the carbon chains found in plastics made from fossil fuels.

Taro ( Colocasia Esculenta )

According to Briones et al. (2020), Taro (Colocasia Esculenta) is a tuber crop commonly
found in tropical and subtropical regions. It is known for having a high nutritive value and starch
content.

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