INTRODUCTION

In our daily lives we always use things that will help improve our work and keep

ourselves clean and safe. One of the most used appliances in our houses is the

refrigerator because it is used for storing and keeping the food cool to lower the rate of

bacteria and the make it stay longer. Sometimes putting too many kind of foods in

refrigerator causes a bad odor. Once fruits and vegetables are harvested, they naturally

produce ethylene gas. This gas production escalates food ripening causing produce to

spoil. Fruits and vegetables can also become contaminated with microorganisms.

Leftover foods and other food products that have reached its expiration date are the

main cause of odor, but cleaning our refrigerator alone can’t keep it odorless. Therefore,

the researchers conducted this study to help people reduce the bad odor in their

refrigerator.

This study aims to make a refrigerator deodorizer which is easy to make and

produce a new product in the market. Specifically, it sought answer to the following;

How will the refrigerator deodorizer help eliminate the bad odor in refrigerator? Does it

affect the foods inside the refrigerator?

In this study, people in our community will be benefited especially those who

always have leftover food because the product can be used to eliminate the unpleasant

odor and to keep the freshness of the food.

The study only focused on eliminating bad odor on the refrigerator. Likewise, on

using an eco-friendly and natural home remedies to make the product.

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 There is a significant difference between the efficiency, price and the quality of

materials using key lime, coffee beans and activated charcoal as a refrigerator

deodorizer and commercialized refrigerator deodorizer.

Deodorizer or deodorant, substance used to absorb or eliminate offensive odors.

Adsorbent deodorizers such as activated charcoal and silica gel remove odorous

molecules by attracting them to the adsorbent surface.

Key lime is a citrus hybrid with a scientific name Citrus aurantiifolia, a globose

(spherical shaped) fruit that is yellow when ripe but usually picked green commercially.

It is smaller and seedier, with a higher acidity, a stronger aroma, and a thinner rind. It is

valued for its unique flavor compared to other limes. Philippine varieties have various

names, including dayap and bilolo.

A coffee seed, commonly called coffee bean is a seed of the coffee plant, and is

the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit often referred to as a

cherry.

Some pet owners have found that they can remove pet odors from a room by

heating a cupful of freshly ground coffee beans in a cast-iron skillet over low heat.

Coffee grounds absorb moisture and they “breathe” in and out water through

boiling and brewing, not just through sitting in open air. Another might be that the acid in

the beans might neutralize odor-causing proteins in the air. Apparently, alkaline

products can neutralize acidic odors in the air–an attribute and function that apparently

even baking soda is no good at.

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 Activated charcoal is also called activated carbon, is a form of carbon processed

to have small, low-volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption

or chemical reactions.

The adsorbing characteristic of activated charcoal is used for many purposes.

When a compound passes near this charcoal. It is considered as the most effective

poison antidote till date. Due to its various benefits and multiple applications, it is

produced on large scale. Commercially, it is available in the form of dry powder, liquids

and tablets.

Common charcoal is made from peat, coal, wood, coconut shell, or petroleum.

To make activated charcoal, manufacturers heat common charcoal in the presence of a

gas that causes the charcoal to develop lots of internal spaces or “pores.” These pores

help activated charcoal “trap” chemicals. The desired result is most often the ability to

remove something that is deemed undesirable. It may be CO₂ from the air in nuclear

submarines, SO₂ from fuel cells in the new hybrid cars, unwanted color from vegetable

oil, unpleasant odor from pharmaceuticals, biological chemicals in combat suits, drug

poisoning in cases of attempted suicide, liver toxins in liver dialysis machines. The

charcoal systems often last about 6 months, which is longer than the “do it yourself”

trick of using baking soda.

Baking soda with a scientific name Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium

hydrogen carbonate) is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3.

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 Baking soda is a natural deodorant to avoid the parabens and aluminum found in

many deodorants and antiperspirants, a pinch of baking soda mixed with water so this

simple paste makes an effective and simple natural deodorant.

Cornstarch is used as a thickening agent in liquid-based foods usually by mixing

it with a lower-temperature liquid to form a paste or slurry. As the starch is heated, the

molecular chains unravel, allowing them to collide with other starch chains to form a

mesh, thickening the liquid.

METHODOLOGY

Input Gathering of Materials

Making the Product

Process Surveys and Interviews
Testing the Product

Final Product
Output Knowledge obtained 4
 Figure 1. Research Design

The researchers will use experimental method.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this project you will need the following; 50 grams of leaves, two pieces of key

lime fruits (weighs that ranges from 3-4 ounces) and 30 grams of coffee beans for the

scent of deodorizer, 50 grams of pulverized activated charcoal and 50 grams of baking

soda for absorbing offensive odor, 20 grams of cornstarch to congeal and 200 mL of

water.

First, collect the key lime fruits and leaves, then grate the key lime rind. Extract

the juice of key lime. Second, boil the key lime leaves for 15 minutes, then dissolve the

cornstarch to the boiled key lime leaves. Next mix the coffee beans, activated charcoal

and baking soda into a bowl. Add the dissolve cornstarch into the mixture then place it

into a molder together with the key lime rind and let it solidify.

Lastly, cover the molder with holes where the good smell can escape. Place the

product inside the refrigerator.

Test the Key Lime Refrigerator Deodorizer and place it inside the refrigerator.

After achieving satisfactory result the product was now ready to be presented on public.

The researchers used the purposive sampling method to test the product. The

researchers relied on their own judgment in choosing members of population to

participate in the study.

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 Also, the researchers picked ten respondents and ten different refrigerators. The

researchers gave the product on the respondents for 14 days to test the capabilities of

the product and for them to rate it.

Level of Satisfaction Description

It successfully eliminate bad
5 Very Satisfied odor and produced a good
smell.
Slightly successful to
4 Somewhat Satisfied eliminate bad odor and
produced a good smell.
3 Neither Satisfied nor No changes happen on the
Dissatisfied odor of the refrigerator.
Slightly not successful to
2 Somewhat Dissatisfied eliminate bad odor and
produced a good smell.
Did not successfully
1 Very Dissatisfied eliminate bad odor and
produced a good smell.
Table 1. Survey ratings

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 Result and Discussion

Table 2. The Effect of Refrigerator Deodorizer on Respondents in 14 days (2

weeks)

Name of Ratings Signature

Respondents

Marilou Alcantara 5

Chariflor Deus 3

Joeverlyn 3
Alarcon
Liwayway Rivera 4

Eunice Bulawit 4

Keivan Villanoza 3
Marissa Leabres 5

Ria Anggulo 4

Marife Quijano 4

Diana Bote 5

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 7 out of 10 respondents said that our product was good, and it can slightly help to

eliminate the bad odor and produced a good smell and 3 of them said that there was no

changes happened in the refrigerator’s odor.

Level of Frequency Percentage

Satisfaction
5 3 30
4 4 40
3 3 30
2 0 0
1 0 0
Total = 10 100
Table 3. Percentage of Level Satisfaction of Respondents

n
Formula: x 100%
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30 percent of the respondents are very satisfied to the product and 40 percent of

the respondents said that the product is slightly successful to eliminate the bad odors

and produced a good smell while the remaining 30 percent said that there are no

changes happened when they tried the product.

Materials Cost
Activated Charcoal 90php
Baking Soda 35php
Cornstarch Locally collected
Coffee Locally collected
Key Lime Locally collected
Molder 99php
Total = 224php
Table 4. Cost of Materials.

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 The table shows the cost of materials used for producing a deodorizer that are

tested by the respondents.

Table 5. A comparison between a refrigerator deodorizer sold in the market and

Key lime refrigerator deodorizer.

Key Lime Commercialized

Refrigerator Deodorizer
Deodorizer
Cost 224php 446.12php
($8.99)
Fragrance Slightly strong Strong

Efficiency Much better Better

Certainly, commercialized refrigerator deodorizer still has its advantages than the

Key Lime refrigerator deodorizer because it has been tested and improved for years

with chemicals. In contrast, the product made by the researchers are more efficient

because its materials are locally available than the commercialized refrigerator

deodorizer that can only be bought abroad.

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 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Thus, this study showed that the deodorizer can eliminate bad odor and produce

a good smell in the refrigerator. This happens because of the pores that has the ability

to absorb odor that can be found on the activated charcoal and baking soda. Activated

is a form of carbon processed to have small, low-volume pores that increase the surface

area available for absorption. According to the respondents they liked the product

because of the coffee beans that have an aroma together with the scent of key lime rind

and leaves that help to produce good smell. Also, it does not affect the foods inside the

refrigerator because of the components that the materials have.

However, the researchers are still encouraging people to clean their refrigerator

once a month to prevent unpleasant odor.

Even though the researchers have met its objective in doing the study, they still

have some recommendations for the future researcher that will improve this study. They

can do this by trying other kind of fruits that are more fragrant. Likewise, by finding other

components to improve the product’s effectiveness, odor and color.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.encyclopedia.com
en.wikipedia.org
healthybenefits.info
www.livestrong.com
www.buyactivatedcharcoal.com

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 APPENDICES

I. Collecting key lime fruits and leaves

II. Grate the key lime rind.

III. Extracting the juice from the key lime.

IV. Boiling the key lime leaves.

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V. Mixing the coffee beans, activated charcoal and baking soda into a bowl.

VI. Place the ingredients into a molder and let it solidify.

VII. Place the product into refrigerator

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