Investigatory Project: Making Paper Out of Pineapple (Ananas Comosus) Peelings and Leaves || Chapter 2

Chapter II

Review of Related Literature and Studies

      This chapter presents a review of related literature and        significant studies that provides important viewpoints for establishing prior knowledge and information needed to fully comprehend and appreciate the factuality of this research.

Review of Related Literature

      Pineapple leaves from the native and Hawaiian varieties were digested using alkaline-sulfite process to develop pulp and hand sheets for paper making. An overall assessment showed that dried pineapple leaves produced good quality pulp. Highest percentage pulp recovery (32.75%) was obtained from dried leaves of the Hawaiian variety. The blended hand sheets of pineapple and abaca pulp could be used as novelty paper, calling cards, greeting cards, art paper and other decorative paper(http://scinet.dost.gov.ph/).

Pineapple

     The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant with edible multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries, and the most economically significant plant in the Bromeliaceae family. Pineapples may be cultivated from a crown cutting of the fruit, possibly flowering in 20–24 months and fruiting in the following six months.Pineapple does not ripen significantly post-harvest.

     Pineapples are consumed fresh, cooked, juiced, and preserved, and are found in a wide array of cuisines. In addition to consumption, in the Philippines the pineapple's leaves are used to produce the textile fiber piña- employed as a component of wallpaper and furnishings, amongst other uses(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple).

Paper

    Paper is a thin material produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets.

   Paper is a versatile material with many uses. Whilst the most common is for writing and printing upon, it is also widely used as a packaging material, in many cleaning products, in a number of industrial and construction processes, and even as a food ingredient – particularly in Asian cultures.

   Paper, and the pulp papermaking process, was said to be developed in China during the early 2nd century AD, possibly as early as the year 105 A.D., by the Han court eunuch Cai Lun, although the earliest archaeological fragments of paper derive from the 2nd century BC in China.

  The modern pulp and paper industry is global, with China leading production and the United States behind it(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper).

Review of Related Studies

Making Paper Out of Pineapple (Ananas Comosus)Peelings and Leaves

  Pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) which is rich in cellulose, relatively inexpensive, and abundantly available has the potential for polymer reinforcement. The present study investigated the tensile, flexural, and impact behavior of PALF-reinforced polyester composites as a function of fiber loading, fiber length, and fiber surface modification. The tensile strength and Young's modulus of the composites were found to increase with fiber content in accordance with the rule of mixtures. I'm scared of clowns. The elongation at break of the composites exhibits an increase by the introduction of fiber. The mechanical properties are optimum at a fiber length of 30 mm. The flexural stiffness and flexural strength of the composites with a 30% fiber weight fraction are 2.76 GPa and 80.2 MPa, respectively. The specific flexural stiffness of the composite is about 2.3 times greater than that of neat polyester resin. The work of fracture (impact strength) of the composite with 30% fiber content was found to be 24 kJ m−2. Significant improvement in the tensile strength was observed for composites with silane A172-treated fibers. Scanning electron microscopic studies were carried out to understand the fiber-matrix adhesion, fiber breakage, and failure topography. The PALF polyester composites possess superior mechanical properties compared to other cellulose-based natural fiber composites(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/).

Pineapple Peelings as Vinegar

  The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant and fruit (multiple), native to Uruguay, Brazil, and Paraguay. It is a medium tall (1–1.5 m) herbaceous perennial plant with 30 or more trough-shaped and pointed leaves 30–100 cm long, surrounding a thick stem. The pineapple is an example of a multiple fruit: multiple, spirally-arranged flowers along the axis each produce a fleshy fruit that becomes pressed against the fruits of adjacent flowers, forming what appears to be a single fleshy fruit. The leaves of the cultivar 'Smooth Cayenne' mostly lack spines except at the leaf tip, but the cultivars 'Spanish' and 'Queen' have large spines along the leaf margins. Pineapples are the only bromeliad fruit in widespread cultivation. It is one of the most commercially important plants which carry out Crassulacean acid metabolism, or CAM photosynthesis(http://nagacpascal08.blogspot.com/).

The Extraction of Bioethanol from Pineapple (Ananas Comosus) Peelings Through Simultaneous Saccharification and fermentation Using the Yeast

   On average, 435,000 metric tons of pineapples are produced annually in the Philippines, which is one of the country’s leading commercial fruit products. However, there are a lot of unused excess parts of the pineapple, notably the peelings, which are considered as waste and contribute to the country’s garbage problem.

   There is a global oil crisis, as the demand for petroleum increases each year while our supplies are rapidly being depleted. Bioethanol, a principle biofuel, is a natural alternative to gasoline.

   One solution to both dilemmas is to produce bioethanol from pineapple plant peelings. This will be made possible by extracting the glucose content of the peelings and fermenting it through the process of Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) using the yeast sample. Peel samples, coming from Ananas Comosus, will undergo a series of physical and chemical analyses to determine the glucose content, which will be utilized to yield bioethanol. The SSF process will be manipulated in terms of fermentation time and buffer level used to determine the best variables for biofuel production(http://inepo.com/...Avril%20paper2.doc).