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Brilio.net/en - Durian; its the fruit that has some repulsed by its foul smell and yet has others still utterly obsessed with its rich and creamy taste that no other fruits can rival.
Aside from the polarized preferences that it creates, a few students from Yogyakarta have found another beneficial use for Durian. They found a way to create a biodegradable plastic from Durian seeds.
Yes, you heard it right; the seeds of durian that most people just throw away upon indulging on its flesh are found to be the perfect ingredients to create a more environmentally friendly plastic. Its even better than cassava which is commonly used to create this type of bioplastic.
Hailing from University of Gajah Mada in Yogyakarta, the five students consists of Fajar Bayu Prakoso, Andika Cahya Widyananda, Annisa Fakhriyah Rofi, Dyah Ayu Permatasari and Aditya. They began their research back in 2014.
Image viasatuharapan.com
Fajar, the leader of the group explained, We started this research because we were concerned with the increasingly catastrophic effects that over-consumptions of plastics have caused in recent years
They began experimenting with different materials to create bioplastic that could be easily degraded in the environment. The team finally picked durian seeds as it has high starch content, which is almost 50% from its total weight, while cassava has only 20%.
The starch is used as filler in the mix to increase the plastics density and improve its strength.
To make the bioplastic the durian seeds are first soaked in a limewater for 2-3 days to get rid of the saps. After that they need to be sundried for the whole day.
Once its all dried out, we took the starch from the seeds. Then it is being processed to turn into flour, strained and baked for 30 minutes, Fajar further explained.
The final flour product is then mixed with other chemical ingredients including low-density polyethylene (LDPE, maleic anhydride (MA) and Perbutyl D and Z. And once its mixed, its molded using laboplastomill and hot press printing in LIPI Bandung.
Image viaanekainfounik.net
Not only as strong as a commercial plastic, the plastics made from durian seeds are also biodegradable and more resistant to hot temperature.
From 50 gram seeds we can produce 3-4 pieces of plastic, said Fajar. We hope to mass produced this plastic but it still needs some further research to make this happen.
Once they find a way to mass produce the plastic and need more seeds, Indonesian would surely be happy to have more motivation to indulge in durian more.
(brl/red)
