Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
National Capital Region
Division of City Schools – Valenzuela
VALENZUELA CITY SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE
A.Pablo St., Malinta, Valenzuela City
Telefax: 291-5591 / 942-9360
Email: [email protected]
A member of Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) 50x3 Schools’ Network

Utilization of Avocado Seed (Persea Americana) as a Bioplastic Food

A Research Plan

Presented to the Science Department of

Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in the subject

RESEACH I

Cabalona, Martin Oliver G.

Magalong, Shaina B.

Marchan, Julius Daine V.

Servo, Cassandra Lujille L.

7 – Euler

MYLENE C. TABINAS, LPT

March 2020
The Utilization of Avocado Seed (Persea Americana) as a Bioplastic Food Wrapper

Cabalona, Martin Oliver G. (Team Leader), Magalong, Shaina B., Marchan, Julius

Daine V., Servo, Cassandra Lujille S.

Proposed Start and End date

A. RATIONALE

While plastic has many valuable uses, we have become addicted to single-use or

disposable plastic - with severe environmental consequences (United Nations

Environment [UNE], 2019). Plastic pollution is common throughout the marine

environment yet estimates of the global abundance and weight of the floating plastics

have lacked data, particularly from the southern hemisphere. An estimate of 5.24 trillion

of particles of plastics, weighing 265,940 tons (Eriksen, Lebreton, Carpon, Thiel, Moore,

Borerro, Galgani, Ryan, & Reisser, 2014). By 1950s to 70s, only small amount of plastic

was produced, by 1990’s, plastic waste generation had more than triple. Today, an

estimate of about 60% of that plastic has ended up in either a landfill or the natural

environment (UNE, 2019).

In the 4,000 respondents from different countries, majority said that they would

want to buy renewable food packaging like bioplastics (Barrett, 2019). This study is

conducted to check for other phytochemical compounds which can help in producing

bioplastics. In an avocado, the seed is not usually used and thrown. Seed of avocado has a

few recognitions when it comes to it uses. It can help to minimize the environmental

problems about using organic polymers by converting them into bioplastics such as food
wrapper. The seed of an avocado consists mainly of carbohydrates in the form of starch

and dietary fiber, as well as a broad range of phytochemicals which help in the

production of bioplastics (O’ Brien, 2018). Starch, which can be found in the avocado

seed, is the one of the components making biodegradable plastics. One hundred

milligrams (100mg) of avocado starch was can obtain 0.07% amylose and 73.55%

amylopectin content (Ginting, Lubis, Harahap, & Sartika, 2018).

This study will produce a bioplastic material, specifically food wrapper, with the

use of the avocado seed. It will utilize avocado seed starch and is capable of being broken

down especially into harmless products by the action of living things such as

microoorganism (Hasibuan, Alanjani, Winoto, Siregar, Lubis, & Ginting, 2018). With

this study, the utilization of avocado seed (Persea americana) as a bioplastic (food

wrapper) may help to reduce the plastic pollution in the world.

This study aims to determine the potential of avocado seed as a component of

biodegradable food wrapper. Specifically, it answers the question: Can Avocado seed

(Persea americana) be potentially used in the production of bioplastic food wrapper in

terms of tensile strength, biodegradability, and weight capacity?

C. GOALS/ EXPECTED OUTCOME/ HYPOTHESIS

C1: Goals: The study aims to determine the potential of avocado (Persea

americana) seed a component to biodegradable plastic food wrapper. This will minimize

the use of plastics in the environment and will help all the citizens and the marine

environment to be safe from all the possible toxins and chemicals that the plastics are

capable of producing.

C2: Expected Outcome: The production of the avocado seed as bioplastic food

wrappers will be beneficial to the community in terms of minimizing the large amount of

plastics that can contribute to the world’s destructive pollution that can lead to global

warming.

C3: Hypothesis: Avocado seed is not an effective component of biodegradable

food wrapper in terms of tensile strength, biodegradability, and weight capacity.

D.1. Procedures

Collection of Materials

Preparation of Set-ups

Processing of Avocado seed

Evaluation and Testing of

Figure 1: Flowchart of Step-by-Step Methods and Procedures

Collection of Materials

Avocado seed will be obtained from an avocado merchant at Marulas Public

market. The materials that will be used are: 10 mL of distilled water, 1 mL of white

vinegar, 1.5 grams of avocado seed starch, and 0.5 grams of glycerol. The Avocado seed

(Persea americana) from Marulas Public Market worth 399 pesos per kilogram.
Preparation of Set-ups

The collected Avocado seed (Persea americana) will be extracted to become a

starch. It will be boiled until the mixture becomes clear and thick, then it will be poured

onto a parchment paper in shape you want. There will be four (4) set-ups with varying

amount of avocado seed. Set-ups A, B, C, and D will have 1 gram, 1.5 grams, 2.0 grams,

and 2.5 grams respectively.

Processing of Avocado Seed to Bioplastic food wrapper

In making a bioplastic, there will be four setups with each having same amounts

of 10 mL of distilled water, 1 mL of white vinegar, and 0.5 grams of glycerol. of

collected avocado seeds will be grind into a fine piece. The first set-up will have 1 gram,

the second will have 1.5 grams, the third will have 2.0 grams, and the fourth will have 2.5

grams. To create the bioplastic, the vinegar, the pure glycerol, and distilled water will be

added to the saucepan and it will be stirred until all the lumps are gone (Bolhano,

Cervantes, Mantildo, Padilla, & Toyocan, 2019). The saucepans will be heated with the

temperature of 100 degrees Celsius while continuing stirring until the mixture thickens

and becomes transparent .The purpose of heating the mixture is to break the

intermolecular bonds of starch molecules, exposing sites that hydrogen bond with water,

which dissolves the starch granules. Starch then assumes a more fluid (gelatin) form

(Sullivan, n.d.). The mixture will be poured on a parchment paper. Another piece of

parchment paper will be put on the top of the mixture and it will be quickly molded onto

a different size of a food wrapper. This is to ensure that there will be no holes in the food
wrapper. After, the parchment paper will be removed, and the mixture will be left out

under the sun for two days in order for it to harden.

Evaluation and Testing of the Results

The product will be tested and evaluated based on the following parameters:

Biodegradability: The testing of the results for the biodegradability will be needing four

(4) biodegradable plastics sample with different amount of avocado seed starch in grams

and it will place under a loam soil, 12 inches apart from each other. Same marks will be

placed for the researchers to know if the plastics will decay after two (2) weeks.

Weight Capacity: In testing the weight capacity, the bioplastic made from different

amount of avocado seed starch will be containing same weight of foods in order to know

if what bioplastic will not break easily.

Tensile Strength: To test the tensile strength of the biodegradable plastic, a same weight

of cans will be placed on the top of the bioplastics for three minutes. The process will be

repeated but with other bioplastics having different amount of avocado seed starch.

D.2. Risk and Safety

There are potential risks in making a bioplastic. An example is overheating.

Temperature is important in making a bioplastic because it can burn the starch

component if the temperature is too high. Mishandling fragile equipment such as glasses

may cause injuries or wounds (Bolhano et al., 2019). The researchers will strictly observe

safety precautions to avoid any incident and injuries.

Barrett, A. (2019). Concern over Plastic use is Reflected in Consumer Attitudes on

Food Packaging. Retrieved from

https://bioplasticsnews.com/2019/06/18/concern-over-plastic-use-is-reflected-in-

consumer-attitudes-on-food-packaging/

Bolhano, L., Cervantes, R., Matildo, J., Padilla, K., & Toyocan., R. (2019).

Cucurbita maxima (Squash) Rinds as a Biodegradable Plastic. Valenzuela,

Philippines: VCSMS Research Paper

Eriksen, M., Lebreton, L., Carpon, H., Thiel, M., Moore, C., Borerro, J., Galgani, F.,

Ryan, P., & Reisser, J. (2014). Plastic Pollution in the World's Oceans: More

than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea.

Retrieved from

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/authors?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0111913

Ginting, M., Lubis, M., Harahap, M., & Sartika, M. (2018). Production of bioplastic

from avocado seed starch reinforced with microcrystalline cellulose from sugar

palm fibers. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323276614_Production_of_bioplastic_fr

om_avocado_seed_starch_reinforced_with_microcrystalline_cellulose_from_suga

r_palm_fibers
Hasibuan, R., Alanjani, F., Winoto F., Siregar, R., Lubis M., & Ginting, M. (2018).

Supply of avocado starch ( Persea americana mill ) as bioplastic material.

Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323503468_Supply_of_avocado_starch

_Persea_americana_mill_as_bioplastic_material

O’ Brien, S. (2018). Is it Safe and Healthy to Eat the Seed of an Avocado?. Retrieved

from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/eating-avocado-seed

Sullivan, D. (n.d.). Making Bioplastics. Retrieved from

http://stanford.edu/~dsull/Making_Bioplastics.pdf

United Nations Environment. (2019). Plastic Pollution. Retrieved from

https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/