Potential of Tannin found from Avocado seed (Persea Americana) as a main component for

the production of ink

CHAPTER 1

(Group 4)

I. Introduction

A. Background of the Study

As students, we tend to buy pens to be used for our school activities and work. We even
choose from a wide variety of pens to see which one writes the best and has the best ink. But do
we know what components this inks have?

Ink is a liquid material used for writing, printing or drawing. During the 2500BC inks were
suspensions of carbon, usually lampblack, in water stabilised with a natural gum or materials like
egg albumen. The Chinese knew about ink in the 23rd century BC. They made plant, animal, and
mineral inks and used it for painting on silk and paper, these inks were usually either made of pine
sap, hide glue, carbon black, tar, lamp black and boneblack pigment. Modern ink formulations are
rather more complex and contain more chemicals. Pen inks are actually iron gall inks which recipe
dates back to Europe during the 1400’s and is actually still used today. Iron gall ink is a purple
black or brown black ink made from iron salts and tannic acids. The ink is traditionally prepared
by adding some iron (II) sulfate to a solution of tannic acid that is usually extracted from oak wood
or chestnuts. By mixing this solution, a water-soluble ferrous tannate complex is formed.
Ever since pollution and other harms to nature changed our environment, we tried to find ways to
prevent things to get worse. Pen inks nowadays contain different chemicals and unfortunately the
ink ingredients contain corrosive transition metal ions and acids that cause severe damage to paper.
Pen Iron Gall inks also contain heavy metal compounds which may cause skin irritation, nauseas,
blurred visions, dizziness, and drowsiness when in contact.

Pen Iron Gall inks and other inks are not considered eco-friendly, through extensive and
complicated research our group has thought of another safe and alternative ink recipe by merely
changing one of its main components which is tannin, Tannin which can be found in avocado
seeds. We wanted to see if the avocado seed/pit (Persea Americana) can be an alternative as a
component of ink, since it is a biodegradable material and environment-friendly. We chose the
Persea Americana because it has 13% tannin and it secretes a milky like fluid when exposed to air
which acts like the pigment of ink.

This Paper’s main focus is about creating an organic ink that is made of Persea Americana that
may substitute the ink used in store-bought pens.

B. Statement of the Problem

The General objective of our study is to create a Pen ink that is as efficient as Iron gall pen
inks and has components that are organic and eco-friendly that uses few to no chemicals. We aim
to answer the question of where we can obtain such components that are renewable and contain
tannin. We found out that tannin can be found from Avocado seeds, Thus leading us to our study
to make avocado seed tannin as a main component in the production of ink. This study aims to
introduce the use of organic goods and natural ingredients that could have other benefits/uses than
what they are intended to be. One of our specific objectives it to create an eco-friendly ink, by
extracting tannin found in Avocado seed/pit, we give use to this seeds that are just usually thrown
away. Second we plan to make a non- toxic ink, since the tannin found in Avocado seeds is organic,
it cannot be mixed with Iron Substances, which leads us to research and study other non-toxic
components to help create our ink.

C. Significance of the Study

 The Benefactors of our study will be Students, Manufacturers of Ink for ball pens and
Avocado vendors. By introducing our special Ink recipe made from Tannin extracted from
Avocados the manufacturers can adapt our recipe to make an organic and cost- efficient ink for
their pen products. Our Second benefactors are Students, since the ink is made up with natural
ingredients and does not have harsh chemicals, it is safe for them to use in school. Our third
benefactors will be Avocado vendors, since people don’t use the avocado seed/pits when eating
the fruit, introducing this recipe for ink will be requiring Avocado. So when the people would
make this alternative ink they would need more avocados which will benefit the vendors/sellers of
this fruit.

D. Scope and Limitations of the Study

Our study will be covering the use of tannin found in Avocado seeds as a main
component in the production of ink. The tannin will be mixed with other ingredients to create an
ink like substance. Commercial inks will be used to it with our Persea Americana ink. Our Group
may take a week or two to experiment and test our Persea Americana ink. Our limitations are the
lifespan of the ink, the ink’s color composition and smell. Since we are dealing with organic
materials we cannot test the lifespan of our ink before it fades. Second the color composition,
tannin from avocados turn darker over time due to exposure oxygen so the color of the ink
cannot be determined by our group and lastly the smell since our main objective is about making
an efficient ink, the smell wouldn’t matter our study.

E. Definition of Terms

Avocado (Persea Americana) - is a botanically large berry containing a single large seed

Tannin - a component in plants that is yellowish or brownish bitter-tasting organic substance

present in some galls, barks and other plant tissues. Consisting of gallic acid, used in leather
production.

Ink - a liquid or paste that contains pigments or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an
image, text or design.
F. Hypotheses

Alternative Hypotheses: If we use tannin found in Persea Americana (Avocado) seed/pit as a

main component for ink, then we could create an alternative ink.

Null Hypotheses: If we use tannin found in Persea Americana (Avocado) seed/pit as a main
component for ink, then we could not create an alternative ink.