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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Yautia

Yautia is a species of tropical flowering plant in the group of Xanthosoma that

produces an edible and starchy corm. Yautia is native to Northern South America

which is raised or grown widely in various parts of the world. This plant is also

cultivated in the Philippines, they are also entirely known in Cuba and Puerto Rico. It

is a lactiferous, or it secretes milky juice, herb that prefers tropical or sub-tropical

climates with well-drained fertile soil. It is widely used for the consumption process.

Yautia (X. sagittifolium) grows up to 1.5 to 2 meters in height. The plant have

arrowhead to heart shaped leaves and the tubers have dark brown-orange skin which

possesses wiry hair and the flesh inside the corm is white. The milky juice of the plant

could provide irritation to the skin. It is rich in copper, vitamin B6, carbohydrates,

potassium and iron (Hector Rodriguez, 2018).

Plastic

The word plastic came from the Greek word “plastikos”, which means it is

capable of being molded. Plastics can be hard just like metal or soft like a silk. Plastics

can be conveniently divided into two categories. First is the semi-synthetic in which the

basic chain structure is derived from a natural product, such as cellulose; and synthetic,

which is built up chemically from small units or monomers. Despite the various

applications of plastics, drawbacks have been encountered in three major points. Firstly,

there are certain chemicals used in the manufacture of. Plastics that may cause allergic

reactions. Three is a need man from this threat. Secondly, since cellulose films are
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biodegradable; they are readily attacked by bacteria. Films and packaging materials

from synthetic polymers are normally attacked at a very low rate. New polymers such

is nylon, polyvinyl chloride and Polystyrene have replaced cellulose, the pioneer plastic

material. As a result, these plastic materials have become permanent wastes

(Helmenstine, 2016).

Since Polystyrene is known to leach styrene, which can damage the nervous

system. The hotter the food is the more styrene leaches from those containers which

means using them for hot foods and drinks may be worst of all. Another plastic is the

plastic #3 which is the Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) that can be found in bags for bedding,

plastic toys, meat wrap and packs used to store medications. This plastic contains

poisonous chemicals including DEHP, Diethylhexyl phthalate, causing the endocrine

systems of wildlife disrupted, causing testicular cancer, genital deformations, low sperm

counts and infertility in a number of species, including polar bears, deer, whales and

many more (Mercola, 2013).

With the knowledge of it being harmful, it is encouraged to use an eco-friendly

plastics that can easily be decomposed and make no harm to the environment. In which,

most of the organic plastic, that is oftentimes used today, end up in landfills. Covered

below each one of them, poisonous chemicals just like mentioned above from plastics

seep into groundwater, flowing next into lakes and rivers.

With this study, if organic plastic will not end up in the landfills, it will pile up

for an average of 450 years considering some bottles takes 1000 years to biodegrade

because when something is biodegradable, soil, air or moisture decompose it so that it

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becomes part of the land. Plastics can contain more and more of preservatives. Any

plastic can extract, depending on the conditions just like the temperature and also what

chemicals or ingredients are added on plastics. If possible, it is suggested to avoid using

organic plastic, especially in toys or other products for children, and products that

associates with foods and drinks.

Plastic bags are harmful by polluting the environment. About a hundred million

plastic bags are used every year in the US alone. If someone considers the huge

economies and population of India, China, Europe and other parts of the world, numbers

can be staggering. The problem is consistently a negative situation by the developing

countries like India; which organic plastic bags are highly used by everybody. Every

year, more and more bags are ending up littering the environment. If plastics are just

left in a public place, plastics find their way into the water ways, roads, and beaches,

resulting in floods and possibly withdrawing toxicity to both the place and living things

that are in the area; if burned, it will fill the air with toxic fumes. There are a thousand

animals killed every year due to this waste. Many animals ingest plastic bags mistaking

it for food, and the likes, causing a havoc to them internally and eventually die. What’s

worse is that they are non-biodegradable. The decomposition takes place in about 400

years (Henderson, 2017).

Plastic model compounds having ether linkage were reacted in sub- and

supercritical water to obtain information on the optimum conditions of plastic

decomposition reaction into monomeric compounds. Conversion of dinaphthylether to

naphthol was attained by the reaction in 3 ml of water including basic additives at 703
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K. In the reaction in supercritical water, no production of naphthalene was confirmed

suggesting chemical participation of water. (Yutaka Tokiwa , Buenaventurada P.

Calabia, Charles U. Ugwu and Seiichi Aiba, 2009)

The nacreous portion of the abalone shell is composed of calcium carbonate

crystals interleaved with layers of viscoelastic proteins. The resulting structure yields

unique mechanical properties. In this study, we focus on the thin viscoelastic layers

between the tiles and on their role on the mechanical properties of the shell. (Meyers

M.A., Yu Min-Lin A., Po-Yu C., and Muyco C., 2008)

Bioplastic

Biodegradable plastics can be composed of bio-plastics, which are plastics made

from renewable raw materials. There are normally two forms of biodegradable plastic,

injection molded and solid. The solid forms normally are used for items such as food

containers, leaf collection bags, and water bottles.

Biodegradable plastics do have some downside. For example, they do not

decompose unless they are disposed of properly, meaning that biodegradable plastics

must be treated similarly to compost. The natural breakdown of the plastic will not occur

if it is simply tossed in a landfill with other trash. This is something that concerned

citizens will need to be mindful of. Some scientists also suggest that greenhouse gases

are locked within the plastic and are released into the atmosphere when composted.

However, everything used in the production of biodegradable plastic is natural. As such,

these plastics do not contain the harmful chemicals and materials that traditional plastics

do.
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Some biodegradable materials do contain small pieces of metal. There is concern

that when biodegradable plastics break down, those metals will be released into the

environment. However, to date there is no evidence of that it is causing any significant

issues.

The benefits would seem to outweigh any potential drawbacks, but the question

of whether or not biodegradable plastics will someday be replace by traditional plastic

is still a matter of debate.

After formation, regular plastics hold carbon. When they are disposed of and

begin to decompose or when they are melted, that carbon is then released into the

atmosphere, which as we all know that carbon can increase the greenhouse effect in the

atmosphere. Biodegradable plastics do not release carbon, because carbon is not present

on the manufacturing process. Methane and other forms of pollutants can also be

released from traditional plastic when they are recycled and burned. This is not the case

with biodegradable plastics, which do not contain materials that can cause any type of

pollution.

One of the many positive aspects of biodegradable plastics is that they are able

to be broken down by naturally occurring bacteria, which again will be beneficial to the

environment.

Aside from a slightly higher cost to produce, biodegradable plastics hold many

advantages over standard plastics, with a lesser impact on the environment being one of

its greatest advantages.

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The unique semicrystalline nature of most thermoplastic polymers lies at the basis of

their (lack of) heat resistance and the variations which can be observed in thermal

properties for chemically identical polymer formulations. In brief, most polymer

structures consist of crystalline regions, in which the polymer chains are organized into

orderly crystalline platelets and amorphous regions, spread out in between the

crystalline parts, in which no specific degree of order is observed except for that of a

polymer chain to its nearest neighbor. (N. Peelman, P. Ragaert, K. Ragaert, B. De

Meulenar, F. Devlieghere and Ludwig Cardon, 2015) No clear protocol nor parameter

exist to define the heat resistance of a polymer, but several parameters can give an

indication of the heat resistance of a material. For an amorphous or low crystalline

polymer, Tg can give an indication of the heat resistance to avoid deformation.

Biodegradable plastics are made from all-natural plant materials. These can

include corn oil, orange peels, starch, and plants. Traditional plastic is made with

chemical fillers that can be harmful to the environment when released when the plastic

is melted down. With biodegradable plastic, you get a substance made from natural

sources that does not contain these chemical fillers, and does not pose the same risk to

the environment.

The process of making biodegradable plastics begins with the melting down of

all the materials. That mixture is then poured into molds of various shapes such as plastic

water bottles and utensils (Connecticut Plastics, 2016).

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As stated by Jian-Hua, Jia-li Wang, Xiao Wu and Pu-xin Zhu in their research

paper of April 2008, A saturation phenomenon of glycerol, depending on RH, was

observed based on the isotherms. Above this saturation content, phase separation of the

system occurred with the appearance of free glycerol. According to mechanical

performance and abrasion resistance, as well as water vapor sorption of the starch blend

films, the three‐stage transition was presented to be related to the state of glycerol in the

blend system, i.e. adsorption of glycerol onto H‐bonding sites of starch, supersaturation

of glycerol as plasticizer and further supersaturation of glycerol. Only above the

supersaturation content can glycerol play a plasticizer role in starch‐based composites.

Starch

The study’s main component in making bioplastic is starch. Many properties

such as Glycerol, ethylene glycol (EG), poly ethylene glycol (PEG, 600, 1000) was

selected as plasticizer to add into starch sheets. (Carbohydrate Polymers, 2003) Results

shows that adding glycerol was an excellent plasticizer to starch in order to improve the

ductility of the sheets. While the starch-based mixture’s content is increasing, the tensile

strength is decreasing due to the decrease of degree in the cross-link of starch.

According to Carbohydrate Polymers article in 2003, Glycerol, ethylene glycol (EG),

poly ethylene glycol (PEG, 600, 1000) was selected as plasticizer to add into starch

sheets. Glycerol, ethylene glycol (EG), poly ethylene glycol (PEG, 600, 1000) was

selected as plasticizer to add into starch sheets (Kalambur S. & Syed S.H., 2006).
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Biodegradable and compostable plastics, especially those based on renewable

resources from the agricultural industry, are an essential innovation. This innovation

offers substantial impulses for the future technologies.

The use of starch-based material in order to produce bioplastic is using the idea

of raw materials through the growing age of technology today. The use of bioplastic is

a great example of an innovated and sustainable development of the environment, which

means the responsible use of available natural resources and production processes that

take environmental aspects and natural circulations into consideration (Jürgen Lörcks,

1998).

Hypothesis of the Study

H : There is no significant difference in the effectivity between bioplastic made

o
from Yautia and regular plastic

H : There is a significant difference in the effectivity between bioplastic made from

a
Yautia and regular plastic
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