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The Apprentice | Ramon Magsaysay (Cubao) High School
June-December 2019
Sarisa a day, diabetes away Kioni Gayle A. Tundag
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othing big ever came from being small" - as one fruit has its health benefits that no one has discovered before. Many may have heard of it being poisonous as it grows literally everywhere, taken by birds and other small animals and dropping the small seeds as soon as they have already consumed the sugary flesh. But don't belittle the fruit that gives many advantages. Aratiles is a small wonder.
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America. Unfortunately, she didn't bring home any awards, but she persevered. She eventually won in the National Science and Technology Fair last February, and competed as member of the Philippine delegation in the Intel Science and Engineering Fair in Arizona last May. Aside from her critically acclaimed research, studies have shown that Aratiles has countless properties including the ones that the body usually needs to become healthy and fit, which includes one of the studies concluding that it possesses a potential antibacterial property. And what’s more astonishing about it is that even its leaves, flowers, and barks have health and medical benefits. They are believed to have medicinal value as reported in Peru folklore medicinal uses.
Aratiles (Muntingia calabura) is a fruit locally available but often neglected and discarded as mostly "useless". Who would’ve thought that this berry-like fruit has bioactive components like anthocyanin, flavonoids, and polyphenol? Research studies state that these components are well-known antioxidants that fc8dace5ad880d592.jpg 4 f e 5 bb prevent and even cure diseases. As a result, an Iloilo National High School student, Maria Isabel Layson, proved that such a tiny fruit could possibly cure one of the world's biggest medical crises - diabetes. 16 year-old Layson is a young scientist in the making, carrying out a big discovery to help people in the future.
Diabetes is a disease that is either lifestyle-induced or hereditary. The body of a host can't properly control the amount of sugar in the blood caused by lack of insulin. It is greatly difficult to cure. It burdens financially, and in most cases emotionally those who have the disease. The Philippines is a candidate for having the highest number of death rate caused by diabetes. The government is very concerned about the health of the citizens. Even more so when it has been estimated that if the diabetes death rate doesn't go down, there will be 7.8 million diabetic Filipinos by 2030 and diabetes, by far, is one of the deadliest diseases in the country at present.
With a tiny glimmer of hope, Layson presented a possible cure. She conducted a research entitled, "Bioactive Component, Antioxidant Activity, and Antidiabetic Properties of Muntingia calabura Linn. An In Vitro Study", tackling the potential antidiabetic components in Aratiles, specifically to type 2 diabetes or also called non-insulin dependent diabetes.
Mother nature is astounding not to give this small living thing a purpose and way to make it useful. Thus, we should always consider these “tiny and useless” things to be something big and useful as to how David could defeat the big and mighty Goliath despite his size and discouraging insults. Therefore, to obtain success in discovering something that will not only help people cure various diseases but also help every nation, is a milestone, indeed.
She presented her fruitful study in an international science fair in the United States of Maria Isabel "ZsaZsa" Layson as she presents herself with the accolades she gains from her Aratiles research.
W
ith the rise of concerns due to plastic pollution, alternative solutions are made to solve the problem. Humans have learned to reuse and recycle all kinds of plastic but the problem remains. Different ways of dumping have come on the surface but to no avail. The people’s continued use of the product commands its high rate production, thus, there’s still plastic pollution.
film at the 252nd National Meeting and Exposition by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
the results of the tests, since it allows less oxygen to enter into its pores.
The backbone of the project is the mixture of cow milk and citrus pectin from the citrus family of fruits. Modifications of their product resulted in a similar structure as plastic. The study also becomes a much more effective food preserver, as shown by
What if plastic suddenly becomes edible? Sounds pretty bizarre, but it is actually possible!
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The production of bioplastics from different organic materials paved the way for bioplastics, and also edible plastics. In 2016, the research team of the US Department of Agriculture, led by Peggy Tomasula, presented a biodegradable and edible plastic
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A scoop on bioplastic films - a developing solution for the replacement of plastics and to protect the environment.
“The coating applications for this product are endless,” according to team member Laetitia Bonncillie. In line with this, their plastic can upgrade itself by putting dietary aids such as vitamins and probiotics. Unbelievable but true!
More tests and experiments have been conducted. More products are being manufactured. As a matter
of fact, after the discovery of using caseincitrus pectin plastic, the students of University of Oregon have also developed brown algae powder in order to create high-quality polysaccharide polymers. In this case however, their product may be used in many ways such as pill capsules, toilet seat covers, travel containers, and flower pots that can be utilized as fertilizer when dissolved. AlgoTek, another company working on the elimination of plastic pollution, wishes to advertise the use of plastic in the market, as it brings terrible drawbacks when treated as waste. More and more projects are being undertaken to establish good alternative sources for creating bioplastic. Although, not all alternatives would last that long, there are two projects that have been subjected to more experiments and tests for further development to diminish the drawbacks. The development of these plastic alternatives is expected not only to ease lives but also to save nature. It is one of the ways of repairing the damages Mother Nature has had.
Heal our land, and planet, Earth.