Saint Francis Of Assisi College

045 Admiral Village, Talon III, Las Piñas City

High school Department

Musa a cuminata Peel Cat Litter

A Research Project
Presented to
Saint Francis of Assisi College
Las Piñas City

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Investigatory Project I

By:
Blancaflor, Keischeley Izelinn Mikka A.

Borja, Dmitri Jorjette Mari V.

Briones, Kallel M.

Chua, Pamela Nicole B.

Marges, Trisha Nicole R.

Tolentino, YdaMaru G.

February 2018

Academic Year 2017-2018

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 Approval Sheet

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the subject INVESTIGATORY

PROJECT, this research entitled “Musa acuminata Peel Cat Litter” has been prepared

and submitted by: Name of researchers is hereby accepted and approved for oral defense.

MR. RALPH ARJAY C. DELA CRUZ

Research Advisor

Approved as partial fulfillment of the requirements for INVESTIGATORY PROJECT by

the committee on oral defense.

MS. MARIA RONA RHIA R. ESCALO MR. MICHAEL I. HALAMAN

Panelist Panelist

MS. HONEYBEE A. PANAGA

Panelist

Accepted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for INVESTIGATORY PROJECT.

MR. RALPH ARJAY C. DELA CRUZ

Research Advisor

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 ABSTRACT

The research “Musa a cuminata peel cat Litter” has been conducted to be able to

help with concerns dealing with the environment by creating a completely biodegradable

cat litter out of Musa A Cuminata peels. The procedures that the researchers used in the

project were based on the scientific method. The researchers used ecofriendly products

which can be made into biodegradable cat litter that will be completely harmless to the

environment and will surely not lead to further damages. The result was found that the

product exhibited the desirable characteristics of a biodegradable cat litter; being able to

break down easily and safely.

For this, the product is completely biodegradable at disposal. The researchers

conclude that Musa a cuminata peels is one of the most promising raw materials for the

development of biodegradable cat litter for it offers absorbency, biodegradability, and

accessibility at a very low cost.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE……………………………………………………………………………..i

APPROVAL SHEET……………………………………………………………………ii

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………..iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………….iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………………………...vi

CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND…………………………………………7

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….7

Background of the study………………………………………………………………….8

Objectives…………….………………………………………………………………….10

Statement of the problem…………………………..……………………………...…….10

Hypothesis……………………………………………………………………………….11

Significance of the Study……………………………………...…………………………11

Scope and Limitations........................................................................................................12

Conceptual Framework......................................................................................................13

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE………...………………………………….14

Foreign Literature..............................................................................................................14

Definition of Terms............................................................................................................15

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 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………………..15

Subjects/Respondents of the Study………………………………………………………16

Materials to be Used……………………………………………………………………..16

Data Gathering Procedures………………………………………………………………17

CHAPTER 4

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA……..........20

Interpretation of data………………………….……………………………….…………20

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION………..………………21

Conclusion………………………………………………………………….….….…… 21

Recommendations………………………………………………………….……..…......21

Documentation……………………………………………….………………..…...…….22

Bibliography…………………………………………………….…............................. 22

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to give our sincere gratitude to the following people for guiding

and helping us throughout the making of this investigatory project. Our research advisor,

Sir Ralph Arjay Dela Cruz, for his guidance, patience, and support. Our parents for their

encouragement. Lastly, our group mates for the hard work and sacrifices they’ve made

for this project.

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 CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
INTRODUCTION
Cat litter is expensive and a hassle. Most types are not ecofriendly and harmful to

our environment. Although it keeps our home sanitary, our environment is surely more

important than that. Others have tried and succeeded in making ecofriendly cat litter, but

these also have downsides, such as being expensive that the researchers look to find

solutions to.

Cat litter is an absorbent material, often in a granular form that is used to line a

receptacle, i.e. a litter box, in which a domestic cat can urinate and defecate indoors.

Before Edward Lowe’s invention, known as modern cat litter, people kept their cats

outside, using ashes, dirt, or sand as cat litter when it was necessary to keep them inside.

Lowe got the concept of using clay called Fuller’s Earth, a set of clay minerals capable of

absorbing their weight in water, from his neighbor who asked him for some sand as cat

litter. They found it worked far better than sand or ashes.

The researchers decided to use components vastly different from the original

component of Lowe’s version. Lowe conveniently had Fuller’s Earth to give his neighbor

which isn’t really exactly easy to get. Instead of using clay or earth materials, the

researchers decided to use Musa A Cuminata peels. Easy to get, commonly thrown away,

now to be used as ecofriendly cat litter by drying and crushing it into the granular form

cat litter is usually in. Another component that the researchers have used is lemongrass, a

pleasant smelling herb, to attract the domestic cat and lead them to the litter box. Baking

soda, another component, is used to remove the bad odor that may stay on the cat litter.

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Background of the Study

The Musa a cuminata plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant. All the

above-ground parts of a Musa a cuminata plant grow from a structure usually called a

"corm". Plants are normally tall and fairly sturdy, and are often mistaken for trees, but

what appears to be a trunk is actually a "false stem" or pseudostem. Musa a cuminatas

grow in a wide variety of soils. The leaves of Musa a cuminata plants are composed of a

"stalk" (petiole) and a blade (lamina). The base of the petiole widens to form a sheath; the

tightly packed sheaths make up the pseudostem, which is all that supports the plant.

Cultivated Musa A Cuminata plants vary in height depending on the variety and growing

conditions.

This study aims to produce a biodegradable and natural cat litter that is efficient

and economical.Cat litter is one of any of a number of materials used in litter boxes to

absorb moisture from cat feces and urine, which reduces foul odors such as ammonia and

renders them more tolerable within human dwellings.

Several kinds of cat litter are commercially available, enabling consumers to

decide which factors are most important. Some cat owners are concerned about litter

being tracked throughout the house, while others may look for litters that are

biodegradable. Absorbency and odor control are other considerations.

One of the first commercially available cat litters was Kitty Litter, invented in

1948 and marketed by Ed Lowe. This was the first use of clay as an absorbent; prior to

this time sand had been used in litter boxes instead. The new clay litter was more

absorbent than sand, and its larger grain made it less likely to be tracked from the litter

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box. The brand name has become a genericized trademark, used by many to denote any

type of cat litter.

Conventional clay litter is indistinguishable from clay-based oil absorbent (used

to clean oil spills); as the latter is far cheaper, it is often used as a

substitute.Biodegradable litter materials are pellets made of recycled paper, wood

shavings (primarily pine), wood, corn cobs, dried orange peel, or wheat bran. Some pet

owners prefer these litters due to their perceived friendliness to the environment; others

are attracted by the flush ability of the litter. Asthmatic cats may sometimes benefit from

the reduced dust in some forms of biodegradable litter. They tend to be more expensive

than traditional clay litters, so cost is not a positive factor in their selection, however

some biodegradable litters such as the sawdust pellet type last much longer than clay

litter, one inch of sawdust litter can last over two weeks per cat. Also, most of these

forms of litter are recycled from human usage and are thus re-using a waste product as

opposed to drawing clay from litter mines.

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Objectives

The specific objective: this research is to formulate a biodegradable cat litter made from

Musa a cuminata peels that could attract cats.

The general objectives of this study are:

1. To be able to create cat litter with easily obtainable materials and equipment.

2. To formulate cat litter that is ecofriendly and cheap with, the same effect to

attract cats.

Statement of the problem

The study focuses on finding out whether the researchers could produce efficient

cat litter with Musa a cuminata peels as a main component. Specifically, it sought to

answer the following questions:

1. Is it possible to use Musa a cuminata peels as the main component in cat

litter?

2. Will the produced cat litter be as or more efficient than commercial cat

litter?

3. Will the Musa A Cuminata peel litter be cheaper and more ecofriendly that

commercial litter?

4. What’s difference between Musa A Cuminata peel litter and regular cat

litter?

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Hypothesis

The researchers consider the following hypotheses:

Alternative hypothesis

1. Yes, it is possible to use Musa A Cuminata peels as the main component

in cat litter.

2. Yes, the produced cat litter will be as or more efficient than regular cat

litter.

Null hypothesis

1. No, the Musa A Cuminata peel litter will not be cheaper and more

ecofriendly than regular litter

2. There will be no significant difference between the two cat litters.

Significance of the Study

This study shows how using Musa A Cuminata peels as the main component of

cat litter would benefit the following people:

Pet (Cat) Owners – It would benefit pet owners since they are able to find better cat

litter which is both cheap and biodegradable that they can use for their domestic cats.

Environment – This study will benefit the environment for it decomposes in a small

amount of time and it will not end on landfills and ecosystems.

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Future Researchers – This research will help future researchers as reference to make

better, more efficient and ecofriendly cat litter with potentially better materials and

equipment.

Scope and Limitations

This study is confined only in producing cat litter with Musa A Cuminata peels as

a main component with additional others to enhance the products overall performance

such as lemongrass and baking soda.

This study is limited to the use of easily obtainable or common materials such as

an oven, mortar and pestle, scissors, and other items found in a common household. The

average amount of time it took to prepare the cat litter itself with a lifespan of two days

was 16 hours. The peels were rather easily obtainable since the Philippines is the second

largest exporter of bananas after Ecuador, plus the researchers like bananas.

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 Conceptual Framework

Figure no.1.0: Representation of the Relationship of Variables

Independent Dependent
Variables Variables

*The produced Musa a *Domestic cats

cuminata Cat Litter
*Amount of peels used
in the litter
*Temperature in the
drying process
The connections of
*Lifespan of the cat
the variables are
litter
based on the
properties of the cat *Preparation time
litter against
domestic cats.

An Attempt to Produce Musa A

Cuminata Cat Litter

FIGURE 1.0 A list of the (a) Independent Variables: the produced Musa a cuminata cat
litter, the amount of peels used, the temperature in the drying process, and the (b)
Dependent Variables: the domestic cats, the lifespan of produced cat litter, preparation
time. The connection between the two is in the properties of the cat litter itself. The
attracting/lifespan properties are concern with the domestic cats in our study.

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 CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

According to George Philip (2001), A banana is a long, curved fruit,

yellow or reddish when ripe, of the tree of the same name. It has a soft creamy

flesh. A spike of yellow, clustered flowers grows from the centre of the crown of

the tree and bends downward. The flowers develop into bunches of 50-150 fruits

in “hands” of 10-20. More than 100 varieties are cultivated. Height: 3-9m (10-

30ft). Family Musaceae; genus Musa.

Ripe bananas store poorly. Today it is a common practice to pick, ship,

and store bananas while they are still green. Gassing with ethylene triggers

ripening, and the bananas are ready to eat in 5 days.

According to Heuze V., Tran G., Archimede H. (2016), banana peels are

the outer envelopes of banana fruits, They are the by-product of household

consumption and banana processing.

According to Collier’s Encyclopedia, cats are inherently clean animals,

and their natural instinct is to dig a hole in which to defecate and then to cover it

afterward. This natural instinct will be satisfied if a pan containing proper

material is available.

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Summary

The pieces of information above gathered by the researchers will be beneficial in

this study for these would serve as basis and support for the study from foreign resources.

This part introduces concepts and ideas which the researchers want the audience to

understand that the banana peels can be used instead of chemicals for cat littersince

chemicals are more known to have harmful side effects. Also, that the use of those

banana peels may create a eco-friendly cat litter ; having no expected harmful side effects

to the environment when used.

Definition of terms

The following terms were the words that you encountered in this research. For you to

understand more the study, these are some of the terms used:

Ammonia – a pungent colorless gaseous alkaline compound that is very soluble in water

Ethylene – a colorless flammable gaseous unsaturated hydrocarbon and occurs in plats

that promotes ripening

Herbaceous–of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an herb

Sheath–an investing cover or case of a plant or animal body or body part

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 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

Subjects/Respondents of the Study

The study is focused on cat litter however the domestic cat has to be attracted to

the litter itself for them to use it. In each experiment, 1-2 domestic cats were observed

to test if they use the Musa A Cuminata peel cat litter rather than the commercial cat

litter.

Materials Used

 Banana peels

 Lemongrass

 Baking soda

 Scissors

 Knife

 Cutting board

 Container

 Oven

 Cooking oil

 Mortar and pestle

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CONTROLLED VARIABLE

Trials Materials Time Methodology

4 - 163 Banana Peels March 9 . The researchers

- Mortar and Time Started: sliced the banana

Pestle 13:00 peels into tiny

- Oven Time Ended: pieces. After that,

-32 g of Baking 10:00, March 10 it was heated in the

soda oven for about 2

hours with the

temperature of

125℃. The Musa a

cuminata peels

were taken out and

crushed using the

mortar and pestle.

Then, 32 g of

baking soda was

added to the Musa

a cuminata peels.

In this trial, the number of banana peels was increased but we kept the same amount of

baking soda. The lemongrass was removed from the cat litter. This trial was conducted in

17
order to find out whether or not the producer cat litter had the property to attract the

domestic cat without the use of lemongrass.

Data Gathering Procedure

Trials Materials Time Methodology

1 - 17 Banana Peels January 27 The researchers

- Mortar and Time Started: gathered 17

Pestle 12:30 banana peels.

- Oven Time Ended: Then it was sliced

-32 g of Baking 15:30 into tiny pieces.

soda After that, it was

heated in the oven

for about 2 hours

with the

temperature of

95℃.

2 - 118 Banana February 2 The researchers

Peels Time Started: gathered 118

- Mortar and 13:00 banana peels and

Pestle Time Ended: sliced them into

- Oven 9:00, Feb. 3 tiny pieces. After

-32 g of Baking that, it was heated

soda up in the oven for

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 -Lemongrass 2 hours with the

temperature of 95-

125 ℃.

3 - 176 Banana February 17 The researchers

Peels Time Started: gathered 176

- Mortar and 13:00 banana peels then

Pestle Time Ended: sliced them into

- Oven 11:00, Feb. 18 tiny pieces. Then,

-32 g of Baking it is heated up in

soda the oven for 125℃.

-Lemongrass

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 CHAPTER 4

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND

INTERPRETATION OF DATA

Interpretation of data

Based on the trials, the banana peels for the cat litter were too little to be used in the

trial 1, while in the trials 2 and 3, we were able to make a successful cat litter. In every

trial, more banana peels were added. Also, the temperature was increased for heating it

up in the oven. As the amount of banana peels increased, the amount of the other

components stayed the same. For trial 2, two cat litters were tested and both cat litters

were used by the cat. While in the trial 3, one cat litter was tested, with more banana

peels and it worked as well.. To sum it up, the results of the trials show that the research

has potential.How about the controlled variable what happened was it successful also

please indicate before the trial 1

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 CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion

Based from the experiments that were done, we finally concluded that it is possible to use

Musa A Cuminata peels as the main component for cat litter and that it is as effective as

regular cat litter. Although, the Musa A cuminata peel litter is cheaper and more eco-

friendly than regular litter.

Recommendations

For future studies/researches, the researches recommend the use of better equipment to

make the production rate faster rather than manually doing most of the work.

The researchers also recommend to crush the Musa A Cuminata peels immediately out of

the oven for them to be crushed easer and the granules be finer. Lastly, experiment with

the temperature of the oven, accord it to the time you have to dry them but longer times

work significantly better.

Controlled variableIn trial 4, the number of banana peels was increased but we kept the

same amount of baking soda. But it is up to the future researchers and their specific

objectives.

It was also successful with the controlled having the banana peel alone without the lemon

grass

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Documentation:

22
Bibliography

Book:

Frank B.Salisbury - Cleon W.Ross - Cengage Learning – 2009, Plant physiology

Irwin P.Ting - Addison-Wesley Publishing Company – 1982, Plant physiology

George Philip – 2001,Philip's nature encyclopedia

Lauren S.Bahr - William Darrach.Halsey - Crowell-Collier – 1986, Collier's encyclopedia:

with bibliography and index

Internet:

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2015/03/23/common-types-
cat-litter.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Lowe_(businessman)

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