Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Historians and botanists believed that Musa, a native plant, originated in Southeast Asia,

in the jungles of Malaysia. Indonesia or the Philippines have many varieties of wild bananas still

grow today. Africans are credited to have given the present name, since the word banana would

be derived from the Arab for “finger”. These plants have a lot of uses from roots to leaves. It is a

giant monocotyledonous herbaceous perennial plant with an underground horizontal rhizome

from which roots develop. The rhizome supports an erect shoot known as the pseudostem which

can grow up to a height of 3 to 6 meters, depending on the variety and location.

Musa are significant crop in the tropics. From 80 to 85 percent of the world’s banana

crop is grown locally for domestic consumption. Consumers in the tropics not only eat the raw,

ripe fruit, but also its blossom.

Geographically, bananas are abundant in the Philippines and are only used commercially

as different delicacies. The researchers chose to study the banana bracts in order to utilize its use.

Instead of throwing the banana bracts away as a waste, they may use these to determine the

acidity or basicity of what they usually eat or consume. It is also because it has a component that

changes its color depending upon the pH of its environment which is the anthocyanin.

Now and then you need to measure the pH of solution and this can be done by either

using a digital pH-meter, or through using pH paper such as the litmus paper which changes

color depending upon the pH – the acidity or alkalinity – of a certain liquid. However

Commercial indicators are expensive and some of them have toxic effects on users and can also
cause environmental pollution. For these reasons, there has been an increasing interest in finding

alternative sources of indicators from natural origins. This gave the researchers an idea in giving

the community a cheaper, more available, simple to extract, less toxic to users and more

environmentally friendly pH indicator to use.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the feasibility of dippig banana bracts as pH indicator.

Specifically, the study attempts to answer the following questions:

1. How feasible are banana bracts as natural pH indicator?

2. Establishing the feasibility of Dippig banana bracts as natural pH indicator.

3. What is the correct concentration of Dippig banana bracts as pH indicator?

Significance of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of banana bracts extract as a

natural pH indicator. It is hoped that through this study, the community will value more the

banana bracts. To our fellow students, they will be able to use the banana bracts extract as an

effective and safe substitute to those expensive commercial pH indicators. Through this study,

the researchers may be able to influence the community towards a better and healthier lifestyle.

The success of this study would bring a sense of fulfillment to the researchers.

Scope and Delimitations

This research tested the feasibility of banana bracts extract as pH indicator. The

researchers only tested one kind of Banana which is the Dippig. The extracted banana bracts

tested the acidity and basicity of liquids specifically condiments usually found in our homes and

carbonated drinks.
 Furthermore, the duration of this study will be limited to the allotted time which is School

Year 2020-2021.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

THE BANANA
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit

they produce. Bananas come in variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple,

and red. The plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant. The plants are normally tall and

fairly sturdy and are often mistaken for trees, but they’re main or upright stem is actually a

pseudostem that grows 6 to 7.6 meters (20 to 24.9 ft) tall, growing from a corm, each

pseudostem can produce a single bunch of bananas. After fruiting, the pseudostem dies, but

offshoots may develop from the base of the plant. Many varieties of bananas are perennial.

Banana flower, also known as banana blossom or banana heart is a large, dark purple-

red blossom that grows from the end of a bunch of bananas. If you open the inside, you can see

small flowers that would turn into banana. The flavor is a little starchy and bitter, and is normally

eaten as a complement to a dish.

In the middle of the leaf blades emerges the terminal bud of the aerial shoot with its

inflorescence. It is erect at first but very quickly bends over to one side because of its weight.

The first flowers are all female ones, each with its ovary which forms the fruit. They appear in

groups, each protected by a boat-like structure called a bract. After several groups of female

flowers have been produced, a change follows and all subsequent flowers produced are male.

The terminal bud with its male flowers protected by a bract is an ox-heart-shaped purplish
structure. This is often cut off and sold as a vegetable. Banana blossoms are used for export

today as ingredients in different kinds of dishes.

ANTHOCYANIN

Anthocyanin, a particular group of compounds, are one of the more than 6,000 members

of the flavonoid family of polyphenol phytochemicals found in various plant foods. In addition

to anthocyanin, the flavonoid group includes flavanols, flavones, flavanones, flavan-3-ols, and

isoflavones. Anthocyanin pigments have been used in folk medicine for generations, but only

recently the specific pharmacological properties of these compounds have been isolated and

studied.

Anthocyanin is plentiful in plant foods, providing the bright red-orange to blue-violet

colors of many fruits and vegetables. These compounds occur naturally in plants in the form of

glycosides, in which an anthocyanidin molecule is paired with a sugar. The part of the pigment

that exists free of sugar (generically known as aglycone) is called an anthocyanidin. These

compounds are most abundant in berries (eg, black currants, elderberries, blueberries,

strawberries) and their juices, and in red and purple grapes, red wine, sweet cherries, eggplants,

black plums, blood oranges, and red cabbage.

Plants produces anthocyanin as a protective mechanism against environmental stressors,

such as ultraviolet light, cold temperatures, and drought. This production of anthocyanin in roots,

stems, and especially leaf tissues is believed to provide resistance against these environmental

hazards.

ANTHOCYANIN AS AN INDICATOR
 Anthocyanin structure changes based on the pH of the surrounding solution; the color of

the anthocyanin changes as a result. Discoloration from red to blue or green occurs when the

solutions change from acidic to basic. Very strong bases may reduce the anthocyanin indicator

which causes its color to turn yellow. The flavylium ion in the anthocyanin structure reacts to the

acidity of surrounding solution.

USES OF ANTHOCYANIN

Anthocyanin can be used as pigments only to a limit as they are sensitive to changes in

pH values. Discoloration can also be caused by a change in temperature, oxygen or UV radiation.

Anthocyanin is not very good at keeping color so they are only rarely used in color industry.

In food industry, anthocyanin is mainly used as food dyes: in jams, sweets, drinks (wine

for example) and dessert products. The additive code number of anthocyanin in foods is E 163.

The cosmetics industry sometimes uses anthocyanin as pigments or antioxidants to prevent and

slow the oxidation of cosmetics. (Hintsanen, 2000)

pH INDICATOR

pH indicators are substances whose color changes as the solution’s acidity changes.

Indicators are usually organic weak acids or bases. Indicator molecule’s structure changes when

it donates or receives a proton. The new structure makes the indicator molecule absorb light at
different wavelengths than before; this can usually be observed as a discoloration of the solution

(Chandrasekaran, 2001).

Many natural substances also act as indicators. Blue or blue-red berries, vegetables and

flowers contain substances known as anthocyanin, which are known to be natural indicators.

Banana bracts were used as natural indicators in this study.

Conceptual Framework

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Gathering
Extraction Banana Bracts as pH
Banana Bracts Testing Indicator
Analysis of results