The Feasibility of Kulitis (Amaranth) Leaves as a Bioplastic

Abstract

Plastics account for a significant volume of landfills around the globe and have a distressing impact on the environment despite the benefits they bring (Shamsuddin,2019). To address the problem at hand, one of the most widespread innovations in the plastic industry is the utilization of bioplastic, a polymer derived from renewable biological sources (Ashter, S.A., 2016). Kulitis (Amaranthus) is an abundant plant in the Philippines commonly used for consumption. Based on Sarker et al. in 2019, phytochemical analysis shows it is rich in starch contents. Starch is one of the materials mainly used for tensile strength reinforcement in the production of bioplastics (Arendt & Zannini,2013). This study aims to investigate the potentiality of Amaranth found in the Philippines to be used as a bioplastic. Amaranth leaves were collected, and the samples were boiled for 40 minutes. The leaves and excess water was blended to disintegrate the leaves before making the bioplastic for a finer product of film sheets. All the components, like Glycerin, cornstarch, vinegar, and tap water, were combined to create the bioplastic formulation. The formulated mixture for the bioplastic film sheet will be transferred to a silicon mold and sun-dried to create the film for approximately 8 hours or depending on the weather. A plastic tension test determined the tensile strength and maximum elongation or extension. A Biodegradability test was conducted by cutting the film and placed in the garage at room temperature. The result shows that the average tensile strength of Amaranth (2.02 N) is more significant than plastic labo (1.96 N) and starch-based bioplastic (1.92 N). However, plastic labo has the highest average extension load with 25.7 mm, followed by Amaranth bioplastic with 8.6 mm, while starch-based plastic has an 8.1 mm average extension load. Findings from the biodegradability test also show that the Amaranth bioplastic takes approximately 45 days to decompose and disintegrate. Using the Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for data analysis in tensile strength, data shows that Fstat (4.97) is less than Fcrit (5.15). Meaning there is no significant difference between the three treatments. This indicates that the Amaranth bioplastic is comparable to the quality of conventional plastic. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Amaranth bioplastic can be considered as an alternative to conventional plastics.