Taro (Colocasia Esculenta) Stems used as an Alternative Raw Material in

Creating Paper Bag for the Consumers of Baguio

Nico Quijon, Olivia Amor Antolin, May Ann Balcanao, Realmonde Andrae Corpuz,Tisha Ann-ly Miller,
Vivienne Joy Padayao, and Joule Cheval Passi

University of Cordilleras, Senior High School

Abstract

The Taro Stems (Colocasia Esculenta) has been added to the delicacies for decades, but the researchers
have thought that the taro stems can be an alternative raw material in creating paper bag. In making a
paper you will need a ton of fibers, on the other hand Taro is rich in fibers it can contains more than 6
grams of fiber which makes it good to be an alternative paper bag and how it can help in the community
of Baguio consumers. The idea was inspired by a group that has a study entitled Taro (Colocasia
Esculenta) as an Alternative Source of Biodegradable Plastic, with its effectiveness and significance with
the commercial paper bag by finding out how taro stems became an alternative material in creating paper
bags with our parameters which are: tensile index, burst index, and foldable endurance. The taro has been
chopped, boiled, and it has been turned it into a pulp to bring out the fiber in order to create the paper.
This study was conducted. The researchers’ parameters are used to test the effectivity and the significant
difference of the paper. There are many physical properties parameters to choose from and the researchers
chose these three which are Tensile Index, Foldable Endurance, and Burst Index because they based it by
what is needed in creating paper bag which is fiber, by its resistance to rupturing, and by its endurance
when its folded. By the observation of the researchers it seems that any plant that is high and rich in
fiber can possibly be an alternative in creating paper. Therefore, the researchers have thought of certain
plants that can be a very suitable alternative raw material for paper such as sweet potatoes (Ipomoea
batatas) and the chayote leaves (Sechium edule).

Keywords:

Taro, Colocasia Esculenta, paper bag, alternative

INTRODUCTION goods or items purchased or serving food or

There are things that we cannot carry
with just two hands. There is a specific thing
that is provided for that role. A paper bag that
help us carry our necessities in life. A small
thing that uphold the things we need.
Baguio City, a place that is popular for
its cold weather and pine trees. Since 2017 there
has been an ordinance called “The Plastic and
Styrofoam-Free Baguio Ordinance,” Ordinance
No. 35 series of 2017 which prohibits business
establishments from providing any customer any
plastic bag or polystyrene foam container for
drink, take out or dine in to customers in
polystyrene containers or in plastic bags (The
City Government of Baguio, 2017).
Plastic is a petroleum-based material,
and when burned it's like any other fossil fuel: it
releases climate pollution. This in turn leads to
rising sea levels, increased ocean and air
toxicity, and destruction of coral reefs and other
marine life (Gaia, n.d.). That’s why Baguio is
now a plastic and Styrofoam free and today,
citizens of Baguio are using paper bags or eco
bags for container of goods or items purchased
making this city eco-friendly. The researchers
dedicated this study to the consumers of Baguio
and accordance with the Ordinance No. 35 series
of 2017.
According to Ranganatham (n.d.), paper
and board are very popular packaging materials.
Paper is thin material mainly used for writing
upon, printing upon or for packaging. Since
Baguio City consumers have been using paper
bags, the researchers have decided in finding a
new raw material for creating it. According to
Idaho Forests (n.d.), no matter what you use to
make paper — you need “fiber.” It is produced
by pressing together moist fibers, typically
cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or
grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets
(Ranganatham, n,d,). People have been using
fiber in creating paper as early as 3,000 BC in
Ancient Egypt (Szymanski, 2004). We, the
researchers have found out that taro stems have
fibers and it can be an alternative raw material in
creating paper bags. Even though taro stems are
added in different kinds of delicacies it can be
also used in creating paper. According to
Specialty Produce (2020), taro stems are high in
fiber.
According to Paperslurry (2019), to
make strong paper, choose plants with a high
cellulose fiber content because Cellulose fibers
have high strength and durability. An article
written by Britt (2010), it states that cellulose
fiber is a major constituent of the stems of
plants, a vast number of plants represent
potential sources of paper; many of these have
been pulped experimentally. And according to
Jiang (1999), cell wall of taro is mainly
cellulose. And upon basing that on what the
researchers have read it can be a potential raw
material for creating paper.
The researchers’ study was inspired by
the study of Agua, Alorro, Raro, and Rana
where taro can be a biodegradable plastic, but in
the researchers’ case they used taro ‘stems’ as an
alternative raw material in creating paper bags.
And the study of Alfar, Corpuz, Dejarlo, Llarina,
Miguel, Oliver, Panlaque, and Vistro (2016)
where water hyacinth can be made out of paper
because of its fiber content just like the
researchers’ study. The objective of this study is
to find a new raw material in creating paper bags
from the fibers of Taro stems.
Statement of The Problem
The researchers investigated three possible
mechanisms to explain the:
1. What is the effectiveness of the taro
paper bag in terms of?
a) tensile index
b) burst index
c) foldable endurance?
2. What is the effectiveness of the
commercial paper bag in terms of?
a) tensile index
b) burst index
c) foldable endurance?
3. Is there a significant difference
between the taro paper bag and
commercial paper bag?
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Experimental design is the research
design used in this study. It is any research
conducted with a scientific approach, where a set
of variables are kept constant while the other set
of variables are being measured as the subject of
experiment. True experimental research is the
most accurate form of experimental research
design as it relies on statistical analysis to prove
or disprove a hypothesis (Bhat, n.d.).
Research Materials
The researchers will discuss the
materials that is included in the process of
making paper out of taro (Colocasia Esculenta)
stems. The researcher used the most reliable and
common methods in creating paper. The
researchers are going to use the methods from
the sites Paperslurry (n.d), Mother Earth News
(n.d), and a research of Abdel-Atty, Ahmad,
Shehata, and Soliman (2017). And also, the
researchers based their parameters in accordance
with the study of Abdel-Atty, Ahmad, Shehata,
and Soliman (2017) and Dandan and Fiscal
(2016).
The materials that are needed for this
research are taro, blender, cornstarch, and iron.
The taro's material is the main material that is
needed for the process in making paper. The
blender is used for tearing the fibers to make the
pulp fine because according to a related research
about making paper the researcher need the pulp
to be fine in order to improve the appearance,
durability, and permanence of papers derived
from fine fibers . Next, the cornstarch will be
used in helping to from the pulp. According to
Cross Cultural Collaborative, formation aid is
added to help the fibers disperse evenly and
prevent them from sinking in the water during
the sheet formation process. And then the iron, it
used to flatten and dry the pulp. In others, they
use heavy flat surface to flatten and compress
the paper. In the study of Britt (n.d) paper
making formation of a matted or felted sheet it is
usually of cellulose fibers, upon the use of the
requirements, the dry paper sheet is further
compressed, coated, or impregnated.
Research Methods
The researchers adapted a process in
creating paper. We applied the study of Baldwin
(2017), the cornstarch as a formation aid.
The procedures in creating paper out of
taro it must be cut first into small pieces, boil the
stems to make the texture softened. The softened
taro stems must be shredded using a blender
until the fibers has come out, after the mixture
cooled down, used hands to break them. The
pulp should have a pulpy, sludge-like
consistency. Then, pour the formation aide
(cornstarch). It must be set in the mold and
deckle. You can make your own screen with
fine-mesh screen hammered between two
wooden frames so you can customize the size of
your paper by the size of your screen and frame,
ladled the pulp mixture on the screen (mold and
deckle). Spread the pulp lightly over the screen
to a consistent thickness of 1 millimeter or about
2 over 5 inches. Allow the moisture to drift off.
After that, place a hot iron over the skin when
the paper is halfway dry to touch. Lay iron over
it. This will help give the paper smooth finish.
Leave it and dry it more. For the final procedure,
it must be checked to see if the paper is mostly
dry to touch. It may take approximately 8-12
hours to get this point. Peel the paper from the
screen and leave it exposed to the sun to dry
completely. In dry climates, it takes one day to
dry while it may take two days in more humid
climates.
The researchers will be conducting some
tests on the product by selected physical
properties parameters: tensile index, burst index,
and foldable endurance. The tensile index is
indicative of fiber strength, fiber bonding, and
fiber length. It can be used as a potential
indicator of resistance to web breaking during
printing or converting. Burst index measures its
resistance to rupturing, the researchers will be
basing these parameters by the paper bag’s
resistance to water. Folding endurance measure
the amount of folding that paper will endure
before its tensile strength falls below a standard
value of one-kilogram force.
The researchers had thought of looking
for an easier way to test their parameters. The
components of the different testing are mainly,
coins, strings, a weighing scale and lastly the
commercial and the taro paper.
The tensile index was the first one to be
tested. Before the testing is to be conducted, the
researchers have made sure that the sizes of the
commercial paper and taro paper are similar
according to Elvidge (2019). After the papers are
made sure that they are in similar sizes, the
testing for the tensile strength of both the paper
and the commercial paper proceeded. According
to Elvidge (2019) to test for the strength of the
paper, the researcher can use coins as a basis for
weighing the paper while the paper is being held
by a string and in the other end a small box to
put in the coins. The greater the number of coins
that can be held by the paper without ever
tearing will show the strength of the paper.
The burst index is somewhat similar to
the tensile index. The only difference is that a
part of the paper would burst. At first the
researchers have consulted some of their
teachers on how to do the burst index and one of
the teachers have said that we can test the burst
index of a paper by making it first as a paper bag
and then see how much coins it will hold so the
researchers had followed what the teachers had
told them. First the researchers had made their
taro paper into a paper bag making it similar to
the commercial paper with the same sizes. As
follows, the researchers had put several coins
into the commercial paper bag as well as with
the taro paper bag and observed which ones can
hold the greatest number of coins before
bursting.
Lastly, the foldable endurance was the
last one to be tested. The researchers had asked
for help on one of the teachers in the University
of The Cordilleras and they suggested that the
researchers should make the commercial paper
and the taro paper be similar in size and then
eventually fold them. Each fold should be tested
how much weight they can withstand until their
respective surfaces touch the floor. The
researchers proceeded with their testing the same
way on what the teachers had advised them on
what to do. The researchers had made different
folds and then putting coins as much as the
paper can hold and then observed it to hit the
surface of the floor.
Statistical Tool
To test the significance of the study, t- test was
used to treat the data gathered in Tensile Index,
Foldable Endurance, and Burst Index.
The t-test is one type of inferential
statistics. It is used to determine whether there is
a significant difference between the means of
two groups (Siegle, n.d.).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The study was conducted in order to
find a new raw material in creating paper bags
with the fibers of the Taro (Colocasia Esculenta)
stems. By following the correct method, the
researchers have successfully made a paper bag
out of the taro stems and met the objective of the
study. This chapter presents the results, analysis
and interpretation of the data gathered.
The researchers’ parameters are used to
test the effectivity and the significant difference
of the paper. There are many physical properties
parameters to choose from and the researchers
chose these three which are Tensile Index,
Foldable Endurance, and Burst Index because
they based it by what is needed in creating paper
bag which is fiber, by its resistance to rupturing,
and by its endurance when its folded.
Shown below, the researchers will
present you what they have gathered and discuss
briefly to interpret it. At the first part of the
experiment, the researchers have tested the
parameters of the Taro paper bag:
SOP 1. What is the effectiveness of the
taro paper bag in terms of tensile index, burst
index, and foldable endurance?
Table A.
TARO PAPER 3rd Fold 66 g 44 g 88 g
Tensile TRIA TRIA TRIA AVERA 66 g
Index L1 L2 L3 GE Burst TRI TRI TRI
247.5 225.5 Index AL 1 AL 2 AL 3
Dry g g 220 g 231 g 401.5 405.17 g
440 g 374 g
Foldabl g
e Table B.
Endura TRIA TRIA TRIA
nce L1 L2 L3 Table B shows the effectiveness in each
214.5 199.83 g of the researchers’ parameters in Commercial
No Fold 165 g 220 g g Paper Bag which are: Tensile Index, Foldable
357.5 320.83 g Endurance, and Burst Index at each of its trials.
1st Fold 231 g 374 g g
Comparing both tables, Table A which
401.5 379.5 366.67 g
is the table of Taro paper has the highest average
2nd Fold 319 g g g
324.5 in the three parameters of the researchers.
3rd Fold g 407 g 385 g 372.17 g SOP 3. Is there a significant difference
Burst TRI TRI TRI between taro paper bag and commercial paper
Index AL 1 AL 2 AL 3 bag?
676.5 731.5 707.67 g
  715 g g g t-Test: Paired Two Sample for
Table A shows the effectiveness in each
of the researchers’ parameters in Taro Paper Bag Means
which are: Tensile Index, Foldable Endurance, Tensi Taro Commerc
and Burst Index at each of its trials.
le Paper Bag ial Paper
At the second part of the experiment, the
researchers have tested the parameters of the Index Bag
Commercial paper bag as shown below: Mean 231 g 139.93 g
SOP 2. What is the effectiveness of the P(T<= 0.0257686
commercial paper bag in terms of tensile index,
burst index, and foldable endurance? t) 09

COMMERCIAL PAPER two-

Tensile TRI TRI TRI AVERA
Index AL 1 AL 2 AL 3 GE tail
126.5 148.5 t 4.302653
Dry 143 g
g g 139.93 g
Foldabl Critic
e TRI TRI TRI
Endura AL 1 AL 2 AL 3
nce
al
16.5 11 g
No Fold 5.5 g 11 g two-
g
27.5 45.83 g
1st Fold 44 g 66 g tail
g
60.5 38.5 82.5 60.5 g Table C.
2nd Fold
g g g
 Table C shows that the t critical two-tail t-Test: Paired Two Sample for
value which is 4.30 is greater than the P (0.05)
which is 0.03. This means that the null Means
hypothesis is rejected. Since the p – value is less Foldable Taro Commercial
than the researchers’ alpha, 0.05, the researchers Paper
reject the null hypothesis that there is no Enduranc Bag Paper Bag
significant difference in the means of each
sample. Thus, there is a significant difference e (2nd
between the taro paper bag and commercial
paper bag in terms of their Tensile Index. Fold)
t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Mean 366.67 g 60.5 g

Means P(T<=t) 0.009787

Foldable Taro Commercial
two-tail
Enduranc Paper Paper Bag t Critical 4.302653

e (No Bag two-tail

t-Test: Paired Two Sample for
Fold)
Mean 199.83 g 11 g Means
P(T<=t) 0.011487 Foldable Taro Commercial
Paper
two-tail Enduranc Bag Paper Bag
t Critical 4.302653
e (3rd
two-tail
t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Fold)
Mean 372.17 g 66 g
Means
Foldable Taro Commercial P(T<=t) 0.009787
Paper
Enduranc Bag Paper Bag two-tail
t Critical 4.302653
e (1st
two-tail
Fold) Table D.
Mean 320.83 g 45.83 g
Table D shows that the t critical two-tail value
which is 4.30 is greater than the P (0.05) which
P(T<=t) 0.027735 is 0.01 in no fold, 0.03 in 1st fold, 0.01 in 2nd
fold, and 0.01 in the 4th fold. This means that the
two-tail null hypothesis is rejected. Since the p – value is
t Critical 4.302653 less than the researchers’ alpha, 0.05, the
researchers reject the null hypothesis that there
two-tail is no significant difference in the means of each
sample. Thus, there is a significant difference index, in which the taro paper would hold as
between the taro paper bag and commercial much weight as it can hold up to an average of
paper bag in terms of their foldable endurance. 707.67 g.. And lastly, the foldable endurance of
the taro paper in its first fold it can hold up to
t-Test: Paired Two Sample for
320.83g, for its second fold it can hold up to
366.67g and for its third fold it can hold up to
Means
Burst Taro Commercia 372.17g of weight.

The researchers have observed the

Index Paper l Paper Bag different parameters for the taro commercial
paper. The researchers have observed that the
Bag tensile index or the tensile strength of the
Mean 707.67 g 405.17 g
commercial paper in average can hold 139.93g.
P(T<=t 0.01339 For the burst index, in which the commercial
paper would hold as much weight as it can hold
) two- up to an average of 405.17 g.. And lastly, the
foldable endurance of the commercial paper, in
tail
its first fold it can hold up to 45.83g, for its
t 4.30265
second fold it can hold up to 60.5g and for its
3
third fold it can hold up to 66g of weight.
Critica
Finally the researchers have concluded
l two- that there is a significant difference between the
taro paper and the commercial paper. In which
tail the taro paper in terms of its tensile index, burst
Table E. index and foldable endurance can endure greater
Table E shows that the t critical two-tail value weight than the commercial paper making the
which is 4.30 is greater than the P (0.05) which taro paper as a possible raw material for making
is 0.01. This means that the null hypothesis is paper bags.
rejected. Since the p – value is less than the
The researchers have concluded that Taro Paper
researchers’ alpha, 0.05, the researchers reject
the null hypothesis that there is no significant Bag can be an alternative raw material in making
difference in the means of each sample. Thus, paper.
there is a significant difference between the taro
Recommendation
paper bag and commercial paper bag in terms of
their burst index. For future researchers, in order to find out more
alternative raw material for paper, the
CONCLUSION AND
researchers recommend you to look for plants
RECOMMENDATIONS
that is rich in fiber for example the sweet
Base from what the researchers have potatoes or the chayote leaves for it is rich in
gathered in table A. The researchers have fiber and can be also a possible raw material for
observed the different parameters for the taro paper.
paper. The researchers have observed that the
tensile index or the tensile strength of the taro
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