Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region III
Division of Nueva Ecija
Bartolome Sangalang National High School
Guimba, Nueva Ecija

“Musa Acuminata Pseudo-Stem as an

Eco-Friendly Paper Bag”
Nicole Ann G. Bautista
Jennie R. Acapuyan
John Cedrick D. Baluyut
Heart Ann B. De Vera
Rowie Lutap
Elvin Jhon G. Occasion
11-STEM RYANN

Plastic bags are useful for carrying items and also serve as great packaging
material. Thousands of plastic factories are producing tons of plastic bags which are very
popularly used by the people for shopping purposes because of its ease, cheapness and
convenience to use. Although their uses are unlimited, they have a negative impact on the
environment. Plastic bags take a long time to decompose, causing harm to land animals,
marine life, water bodies, and soil. All of this eventually makes its way into the human
food chain, causing serious diseases like cancer. [1]

 Furthermore, when plastic bags decompose under the sunlight, hazardous

compounds are released into the soil and when plastic bags are burned, poisonous
substances are discharged into the air, causing ambient air pollution. Waste from plastic
bags poses serious environmental danger to human and animal health. Plastic bags can
harm the environment by producing trash and blocking stormwater drains if they are not
properly disposed of. Animals may also get tangled and drown in plastic bags. Animals
often confuse the bags for food and consume them, which will cause blockage in their
digestive processes. Starvation, choking, laceration, infection, decreased reproductive
success and mortality can all occur when animals become entangled in marine detritus,
including plastic bags (Katsanevakis, 2008). There have also been reports of large
endangered tortoises suffocating as a result of ingesting plastic bags combined with
seaweed by mistake. (Thiel et al, 2003)

Since it's been determined that the problem caused by plastic is too widespread
over the world, we have decided to reduce our use of plastic and increase our use of
biodegradable materials. It was thoughtfully designed to reduce pollution caused by
plastic bags.
In this project we are trying to change the material of the carry bag by banana
fiber. This makes it easier to carry out government policy and helps to keep the world
pollution-free. By implementing our project, we can reduce the usage of the plastics and
keep the world away from the plastics. Natural fibers are best in both cost savings and
low in density when compared to glass fibers.
 We used banana stem in this study because we discovered that banana fiber is a
natural bast fiber with a wide range of applications in handy craft product development
such as mats, ropes, and twines, but only 10% of its Pseudo stem is used for product
development, with the remaining being used as fertilizer. (Vigneswaran et al., 2015)
The Musaceae family includes banana plants, which are native to the Malaysia-
Indonesian region of Southeast Asia. Bananas are widely farmed and plentiful throughout
the world's tropical regions. [2,3,4] Banana plants are frequently regarded as one of the
world's most valuable plants. Almost every part of this plant can be used, including the
fruit, peel, leaf, pseudo-stem, stalk and inflorescence (flower). [4,5] They're used in a
variety of food and non-food applications as thickeners, colorants, and flavoring, macro
and micronutrient supply, livestock feed, fibers, bioactive component source, and organic
fertilizer. [5] Banana leaves are commonly used in food processing, food esthetics, food
packaging, and other uses (in some countries, such as Indonesia). By its great nutritional
value, the banana fruit is one of the most popular fruits and an important part of the diet.
[6] As a result, it becomes a highly valuable commodity all over the world. The banana
pseudo-stem has also been studied for usage as a raw material for paper production, fiber
for textiles and filler or structural reinforcement in composite materials. [5,6].
Banana fiber is extracted from the banana plant's pseudo-stem. It is the best fiber
with perfect mechanical properties. Also, it has the lower density than glass fiber. It is
biodegradable and has excellent strength, light weight, and fire resistance. It's used to
create handcrafted purses and coverings. Filter paper, paper bags, greeting cards, lamp
stands, pen stands, decorative papers, rope, mats, and composite material are all examples
of things made using it.
The banana fiber waste is not properly utilized and all of the banana fiber ends up
in the trash. Germany currency are used in banana fiber and now in India it’s also be
used. Banana fiber is in high demand for a variety of reasons. In comparison to other
fibers, it will be cheaper, lighter, and more environmentally friendly in the future. It is
one of the rhizomatous plants and its growth in 129 countries in the world.
The fiber is extracted from pseudo-stem and it is used for making many products.
It's also used in building and construction materials, as well as textiles. Banana fiber is an
environmentally beneficial fiber that is in high demand in nations such as Japan,
Germany, and Australia. The banana is the world's fourth most significant food crop. [6]
The objective of this study is to find a better way to prevent the adverse effects of
plastic bags on humans, land animals, marine life, water bodies, and soil, as well as to
keep the environment clean and pollution-free. Banana stem, glue, and sodium hydroxide
will be the ingredients used by the researchers.
This research will investigate the stem of banana, whether it could be extracted as
alternative eco-bag. The objectives of this research are to determine the properties of
banana stem fiber to be used in making eco-bags, to determine what possible components
of banana stem fiber that it can be a source of handy bag, how to create an eco-friendly
bag into banana stem fiber and to produce eco-bag that will help to keep the environment
healthy and pollution free. We can reduce the use of plastics and keep the world away
from plastics by adopting our project. When compared to glass fibers, natural fibers are
the most cost-effective and have the lowest density.
REFERENCES
[1] Extracting Banana Fiber and Paper from Waste Banana Stems (ecoideaz.com)
[2] Analysis of the chemical composition and morphological structure of banana pseudo-
stem :: BioResources (ncsu.edu)
[3] Chemical and functional properties of the native banana (Musa acuminata ×
balbisiana Colla cv. Awak) pseudo-stem and pseudo-stem tender core flours | Semantic
Scholar
[4] Sango, T., Yona, C.M.A., Duchatel, L., Marin, A., Ndikontar, K.M., Joly, N. and
Lefebvre, M.J. (2018) Step-Wise Multi-Scale Deconstruction of Banana Pseudo-Trunk
(Musa acuminata) Biomass and Morpho-Mechanical Characterization of Extracted Long
Fibres for Sustainable Applications. Industrial Crops and Products, 122, 657-668. -
References - Scientific Research Publishing (scirp.org)
[5] Banana by-products: an under-utilized renewable food biomass with great potential |
SpringerLink
[6] Prospects of banana waste utilization in wastewater treatment: A review - PubMed
(nih.gov)