City Cabadbaran National High School

T.Curato Street Barangay 12, Cabadbaran City

Production of bioplastic from

Green Bean and Sweet Potato
(Phaseolus vulgaris and Ipomoea batatas)

Lyndy Rose O. Año

Lady Ashley I. Año
Mikylla B. Sajolga
Researcher

Submitted To:

Mrs. Grace Suaybaguio

Research Adviser
 Chapter 1
INTRODUCTON

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The characteristics of plastics, such as their lightness, affordability, and durability,
make them more useful than metals, papers, and other materials. As a result, they have
been utilized in practically all industrial fields. More than 300 million tons of plastic were
used globally in 2015. There are plastic wastes everywhere, including in the oceans. The
plastic sector also has some problems connected to economic and environmental
issues.
The first environmental disadvantage is the reduction in landfill capacity brought on
by an increase in the volume of plastic garbage being dumped there. Due to increased
expenses and strict regulations, an increase in plastic garbage causes a crisis in the
landfill. Oceans, on the other hand, are overflowing with plastic trash. The second
disadvantage is the harm done to the marine ecology. The insufficient waste
management alternatives are the third disadvantage. Plastic recycling rates are
extremely low. On the other hand, burning plastic produces harmful gases including
carbon dioxide and methane.
Bioplastic is primarily employed in numerous industrial areas of many nations as
cutlery, diapers, packing materials, etc. The global production of bioplastic is
anticipated to reach 7.8 million tons in 2019. Consequently, it is believed that
bioplastics have a bright future. However, the price of bioplastic made from microbial
resources is still more expensive than that of bioplastic made from renewable
resources. Because of this, the majority of bioplastic producers have concentrated on
using renewable resources to produce their products.
The creation of packaging is particularly o blame for the huge quantity of plastic waste
that
the plastic industries are now producing; hence it is crucial that we discover alternative,
eco-friendly materials to develop biodegradable packaging. As the global population
increases, the demand for plastic waste in the environment. More than eight million
tons of plastic waste are dispersed into the oceans every year, causing global
environmental pollution and corrupting the proper functioning of ecosystem. The
growing necessity to decrease the use of petroleum-based plastic products has led
research to look for new sources of raw materials with the same characteristics as
plasticizers but also biodegradable and non-harmful to human health and the
environment.
Bioplastics are characterized as plastics created by a variety of microorganisms from
renewable resources like potato, sugar, beans, etc. Bioplastics come in a variety of
forms, including photodegradable, compostable, biobased, and biodegradable varieties.
Due to the additives, photodegradable bioplastics are light-sensitive, and UV can
dissolve their polymeric structure. They cannot, however, dissolve in areas without
sunlight. Starch protein, and carbohydrate renewable resources are used to make bio-
based bioplastics. The most popular biodegradable material is polylactic acid (PLA).
According to the American Society for Testing and Materials' (ASTM) D6400 standard,
compostable bioplastics are those that biologically breakdown during the composting
process without harming the plant. Microorganisms entirely biologically breakdown
biodegradable bioplastics. Starch could be used to make bioplastic or biodegradable

plastic. According to common knowledge, it may absorb humidity by utilizing pure

starch. As a result, it is an appropriate material for use in the manufacturing of medicine

capsules in the pharmaceutical industry. Glycerol should be added throughout the heating

process to create bioplastic from starch. By including glycerol as a plasticizer, it is

possible to create the elasticity typical of bioplastic.This study demonstrates the

possibility of forming new plastic materials from Green Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris and

Ipomoea batatas). Green beans and sweet potato is one of the starchy foods that we can

obtained to form an eco-friendly bioplastics or biodegradable plastic.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1. Are green bean and sweet potato potential as bioplastic?

2. How much amount of starch needed to become a potential bioplastic?

3. Is GBSP (green bean and sweet potato) bioplastic deteriorated enough to be

considered an alternative eco-friendly plastic?

1.3 HYPOTHESIS

Ho1. The green bean and the sweet potato-based bioplastic cannot be regarded as one

of the alternatives to achieving the plastic industry’s long-term growth.

Ho2. The amount of starch provided is not sufficient enough to become a potential

bioplastic.

Ho3. The GBSP bioplastic cannot be considered an environmentally friendly plastic.

1.4 OBJECTIVE OF TE STUDY

The main objectives of the study is to:

1. To determine if green bean and sweet potato is potential for making alternative

bioplastic.

2. To determine the amount of starch needed to become a potential bioplastic.

3. To determine whether GBSP has the potential to be an eco-friendly bioplastic.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Bioplastic, often known as biodegradable plastics, can decompose naturally since

they are created from natural plant-based basic ingredients. This is accomplished when
the plastics are naturally metabolized by the bacteria and fungus present in the

immediate environment. A biodegradable plastic's structure can be further

disassembled with their help. These plastic materials, which were developed to address

the issue of plastic waste, will decompose any time. Everyone will benefit from this

study, this could ease the risk to the environment and our current waste systems

1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

This study is helpful to reduce the plastic pollution which is one of the major issues the

world is currently facing. The purpose of conducting this research is to determine the

green bean and sweet potato capability as bioplastics as alternative to synthetic plastics

and to explore different ways to enhance bioplastic properties made from green beans and

sweet potato and find a better and more reliable approach for making green beans and

sweet potato-based bioplastic. This study shows the capability of bioplastic to reduce the

usage of synthetic plastics. This study will be conducted in the Cabadbaran City National High

School science lab.

 Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The Philippines was the third-largest producer of plastic waste globally, behind China

and Indonesia, according to a research by Jambeck et al. (2015). There is a crisis with

plastics on a global scale. Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been

manufactured, and 79% of that volume ended up in landfills or spilled into the

environment. Almost nothing on Earth is free from the Mariana trench to Mount Everest,

there has been plastic contamination. Today, plastic debris is so pervasive in the

environment that some scientists have even hypothesized that it might act as a geological

indicator of the Anthropocene. The Philippines produced 2.7 million metric tons in 2015

of plastic garbage, according to estimates . However, during the same year, China

produced around 48.1 million metric tons of plastic garbage . The Philippines continued

to contribute the most plastic debris to the world's oceans despite China producing more

of it . This is because the majority of people in the Philippines reside in coastal regions

and close to rivers and canals. Additionally, coastal cities like Metro Manila that have

paved surfaces, urban drainage systems, and are located in areas with a lot of

precipitation have been found to release higher amounts of land-based plastic debris into

the oceans .

Plastics made from renewable biomass sources, such as plant fats and oils, maize

starch, straw, and bioplastics include recovered food waste, woodchips, and sawdust.

Some bioplastics are made by processing polysaccharides (such as starch, cellulose,

chitosan, and alginate) and proteins (such as soy protein, gluten, and gelatin) directly

from natural biopolymers. Other bioplastics are made chemically from sugar derivatives

(such as lactic acid) and lipids (such as oils and fats) from either plants or animals, or

biologically by fermentation of sugars or lipids. Contrarily, conventional plastics like

fossil-fuel plastics, often known as petro-based polymers, are made from natural gas or

petroleum.

A number of legumes (family Fabaceae) are commonly cultivated for their edible

seeds, including the green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). One of the most significant edible

legumes in the world is the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). In its homeland of

Latin America, where various races exist according to their provenance, this species was

tamed (Mexico, Central America, and the Andean region of South America). Since pre-

Columbian times, the common bean has been a significant staple crop in the majority of

Latin American nations. It has also become an essential food crop in East Africa. The

University of Missouri claims that there are two varieties of sweet potatoes, or Ipomea

batatas: the orange variety, which is moister and more fleshy, and the white variety,

which is drier and more starchy. They should not be confused with yams (of the species

Dioscorea), which aren't typically seen in the United States. Agricultural Marketing

Resource Center and the University of Missouri both state that sweet potatoes are a native

of the Americas and prefer warm climates for growth. Although they can be cultivated all

across South and Central America, the crop is primarily farmed in the South in the United

States.
 Starch, one of the renewable resources, has the potential to be a beneficial component

of bioplastics due to its low cost and accessibility. In numerous industrial sectors,

including paper, corrugated cardboard, biofuels, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and

particularly the food industry, starch has been used. On the other hand, a lot of businesses

have already started using the starch to make bioplastic. Using this kind of renewable

resources for production raises significant concerns notwithstanding its availability,

affordability, and natural origin. Furthermore, a lot of scholars argue against the usage of

renewable resources like starch in non-food areas when there is hunger in the world.

The negative environmental effects of using and discarding synthetic plastics made of

non-renewable petroleum have been brought up. Since these polymers take a very long

time to break down naturally in the environment and last for millennia, they are regarded

as non-biodegradable materials. They are utilized in vast amounts since they are

frequently employed as packaging material for a variety of consumer goods, including

groceries and beverages. According to estimates, the total amount of synthetic plastics

produced in 2016 increased globally by 3.5% to 322 megatons. Additionally, the need for

synthetic plastic will keep expanding quickly on a global scale (Plastic Europe, 2016).

The production of synthetic polymers results in significant energy and carbon dioxide

emissions (Campilho, 2016). Consequently, the buildup of synthetic plastics could harm

the environment. In the end, this encourages an increase in interest in the use of

renewable bioplastics as a potential replacement for synthetic plastics. Biopolymers, such

as starch and protein, which are easily broken down, are used to create bioplastics, which
are plastics. Due to its abundance, sustainability, naturalness, and capacity for

biodegradation, starch is regarded as one of the most promising ingredients for the

production of bioplastics. With regard to the environment, the manufacture of starch can

lower energy usage by up to 82 MJ/kg and CO2 emissions by 6.8 CO2e/kg (Campilho,

2016).

Most plants, including maize, rice (paddy), wheat, potatoes, cassava, bananas, yams,

and sorghum, contain starch (Carvalho, 2008). Yams typically develop for eight to ten

months, which is a rather quick growth rate. One variety of yam, called yam bean, is very

prevalent, especially in Indonesia. There are two primary polymeric components of

starch: amylose, which is composed of glucose units linked together in highly branched

chains (Sam et al., 2016). Similar to other tuber starches, the yam bean's starch contains

roughly 23% amylose. Therefore, it is thought that yam bean starch may have the

potential to be employed as a tropical renewableresource alternative to fabric made of

bioplastic. This project seeks to create yam bean starch-based bioplastic sheets as a result

(Pachyrizous erosus).
 Chapter 3
MATERIALS AND METHODS

3.1 MATERIALS and METHODS

We bought green beans and sweet potatoes in Cabadbaran Public Market. At Butuan

Golden Key on St. Ignacio Rosales Street, glycerin was purchased. Using a blender and a

strainer, the starch was removed from green beans and sweet potatoes. Beakers, heated

plates, cylinders, stirrers, petri dishes, and dropper pipettes are some of the equipment

used in making the bioplastic.

3.2 BIOPLASTIC PRODUCTION

In preparation for more research, green beans and sweet potato were cleaned and peeled

to get the seeds of the bean. Blended green beans and sweet potato. After filtering the

supernatant, starch was extracted. 330 g of wet green bean and sweet potato yielded 13.5

g of dry starch. Following filtration, starch was dried for two hours at 50 °C before being

stored until further processing [21]. After getting the starch, 15 g of it was weighed and

mixed with 100 mL of tap water, 10 mL of vinegar, and 10 mL of glycerin. This

combination was cooked on a hot plate to a temperature of 100 °C and held there for 20

minutes. According to ASTM D570-81, the water absorption of bioplastic was measured.

Bioplastics with the same surface area and weight were dried at 65 °C for 3hours in oven

before being cooled in a desiccator and weighed. In distilled water heated to 25 °C,

bioplastics were immersed. The bioplastics were taken out after two hours, their surface

water dried using a paper towel.

3.3 BIODEGRADABILITY ANALYSIS

In various controlled conditions, the biodegradability of GBSP(green bean and sweet

potato) samples was examined. Following the weighting GBSP samples were buried in

the moist soil. masses of bioplastic samples were weighed. Three replications of each

experiment were carried out in total. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN)

defines biodegradation as a deterioration brought on by biological activity, particularly by

enzymatic action, and resulting in a major alteration of a material's chemical structure.

The weight loss measurement is also a common technique for polymer biodegradation.

Equation 1 was used to determine the amount of biodegradation.

(Wo−W )
WL(%)¿ Wo
x 100

The starting and final weights of the bioplastic samples are W0 and W, respectively.
Additionally, WL stands for weight loss.
 Chapter 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The table above below show the results of our biodegradability test, which revealed that

the GBSP (Green Bean and Sweet Potato Bioplastic) degraded in five days. Glycerine

degraded at a rate of approximately 65.87% on day 3. The starch mixture degraded for

approximately 93.00% on day 5. Lastly, 86.5% of the normal mixture degraded in soil

within 5 days.

Table No.1

Analysis
100
90
80
70
Weight loss %

60 Series1
50 Series2
40
Series3
30
20
10
0
1 2 3

We subtract the before-drying weight of the GBSP bioplastic from the after-drying

weight of the GBSP bioplastic and divide the result by the after-drying weight of the

GBSP bioplastic to obtain the weight loss for each variable. The following solution will

aid in your visualisation.

 w0−w
We used the equation 1 to determine the weight loss of each variable WL= × 100
w0

8.5849−2.93
More on Glycerin: WL= × 100
8.5849

5.6549
¿ ×100
8.5849

=0.658703072 × 100
WL= 65.87%

55.6516−7.46
Normal Mixture: : WL= 55.6516 × 100

48.1916
= 55.6516 × 100

= 0.86595174262 × 100
WL=86.59%

204.2041−14.29
More on Starch: WL= 204.2041
×100

189.9141
= 204.2041 ×100

=0.9300209937 × 100 WL=93.00%