Bixa orellana (Annatto Seeds) as an Alternative Highlighter Ink

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Highlighter is essential for working people as well as for students. The ink used in a highlighter pen plays an important part in defining the reading experience, comprehension, and visual impact of the written message to the person reading them.(Alarcon,Fampula&Gatdula, 2017).This study aims to produce highlighter ink out of Annatto seeds and determine the physical properties of the produced highlighter ink in terms of resistance of fading, odor, the intensity of color, and its comparison to a synthetic highlighter.

METHODS

Seven hundred fifty grams (750g) of Annatto seeds were crushed and blended. Three different set-ups with different concentrations of ethanol and Annatto Seed were made, the first set-up containing 50mLethanol and 1.5 g Annatto powder, the second set-up containing 50mLethanol and 2.5 g Annatto powder, and the third set-up containing 50mLethanol and 4 g Annatto powder. The concentrations were filtered with cheesecloth to get the crude extract which are placed into three different highlighter containers that is injected using a 10m Linjector syringes. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data collected.

RESULTS

The data gathered from tallied responses of color intensity test showed that set-up 1 containing 800% concentration was the brightest highlighter ink among the three setups but, compared to the synthetic highlighter, it was duller. Data from the fading resistance test revealed that the 800% concentration has the most resistance to fading among the three setups, same as the synthetic highlighter. On the odor of the three setups, it was found that setup 3 was the most pleasant among the setups and the synthetic ink. One-way ANOVA revealed that there is a significant difference between the characteristics of the three setups containing 300%, 500%, and 800%, respectively. Furthermore, it was also found that there is a significant difference between the characteristics of set up three containing 800%concentrationand the synthetic highlighter ink.

DISCUSSIONS

The results showed that Annatto seeds could be used as an alternative ink for highlighters. The setup with 800% concentration was the most effective in terms of the characteristics of the ink compared to the other setups. The commercially-sold highlighter pen's characteristics are more improved than the organic one, but is similarly effective. Therefore, the highlighter ink from Annatto seeds could help produce a natural dye which is more cost-efficient.