The Fusion of

Camellia Sinensis and

Researchers:
Josh Rein Candia Justin M. Caganda

Adviser:
Mrs. Myra B. Sajulan
Chapter 1: The Problem And Its

Settings

Background of the Study

Camellia sinensis is native to East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast

Asia, but it is today cultivated across the world in tropical and subtropical regions.

Camellia sinensis is an evergreen shrub or small tree that is usually trimmed to

below 2 m (6.6 ft) when cultivated for its leaves. It has a strong taproot. The

flowers are yellow-white, 2.5–4 cm (0.98–1.57 in) in diameter, with 7 to 8 petals.

The seeds of Camellia sinensis and Camellia oleifera can be pressed to yield tea

oil, a sweetish seasoning and cooking oil that should not be confused with tea tree

oil, an essential oil that is used for medical and cosmetic purposes, and originates

from the leaves of a different plant.

(lower right)

Camellia sinensis - MHNT

The leaves are 4–15 cm (1.6–5.9 in) long and 2–5 cm (0.79–1.97 in) broad. Fresh

leaves contain about 4% caffeine, as well as related compounds

including theobromine. The young, light green leaves are preferably harvested for

tea production; they have short white hairs on the underside. Older leaves are

deeper green. Different leaf ages produce differing tea qualities, since their

chemical compositions are different. Usually, the tip (bud) and the first two to
three leaves are harvested for processing. This hand picking is repeated every one

to two weeks.

In 2017 Chinese scientists sequenced the genome of Camellia sinensis

var.assamica. It contains about three billion base pairs which was larger than most

plants previously sequenced.

Charcoal is a certain kind of half-burnt wood. People use charcoal

for fires because it burns hotter and cleaner than wood (less smoky), and more

slowly. Your house or workplace stays cleaner. You need charcoal to

melt copper and tin ore to make bronze, too.

People have been making charcoal since about 4000 BC in both China and West

Asia. North and South American people, Africans, and Europeans also made and

used charcoal. The way people made charcoal was generally by piling wood up

and covering it with dampened dirt, and then lighting the wood on fire, so that it

burned very slowly without much oxygen. The best charcoal comes from burning

hard wood like oak or beech. The result is mainly carbon, like coal
Objectives

This regard is being done to find out the potency of the extract of the leaves from

plant camellia sinensisand crashed charcoalas an ink. Nowadays, ink is a pigment

in a liquid or paste form used as colorants and dyes. Also they are becoming more

and more expensive because of their increasing purposes.

Our research aims to produce this ink as a cheaper alternative to those

commercial ones. Compared to the ink we are aiming to create, commercially

produced inks are toxic and can be hazardous to a person’s health ones there is an

inappropriate contact with it.

To match the consistency of other inks, we will be adding other substances

especially vinegar and cornstarch, which are common and easy to find.

Statement of the Problem

crashed charcoal can be used to create an ink.

Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions:

1. Can vinegar strengthen the color of the product?

2. Can cornstarch contribute to achieving the right consistency of the ink?

3. Are the processes boiling and straining efficient in taking the extract out of the

tea bags?

4. Are the crashed charcoal can change the color of the extract form tea bags?

Hypothesis of the Study

 Extracts taken from tea bags have te potential to be made into ink

 Crashed charcoal can change the color of ink into black

 If vinegar and cornstarch are added to the mixture, then the product would

have a stronger color and thicker consistency than to an ordinary ink

This investigatory project will benefit us by producing an alternative for

other inks. These other manufactured inks nowadays come quite expensive prices,

but since the materials to be used in our project are common and easy to find, you

will be spending less money. Also, no harmful chemicals will be used in making

our ink.

Therefore, it is non-toxic compared to commercially sold inks which have

the tendencies of causing harm to one’s health and to the environment.

Scopes And Limitations

Our research and experiments are only limited to making a simple ink as

colorant. It does not include inks that are used in machines such as printers,

copiers, etc. Also, our study includes the effects of vinegar, cornstarch and crashed

charcoal on the product. To have accurate observations, we will be creating two

with vinegar, cornstarch and crashed charcoal.

Chapter 2:Review Of Related

Literature

A Brief History of the Tea Bag

In China, during the Tang Dynasty (618–907), paper was folded and sewn

into square bags to preserve the flavor of tea.

The first Western tea bags were hand-sewn fabric bags; tea bag patents date as

early as 1903. First appearing commercially around 1904, tea bags were

successfully marketed about 1908 by the tea and coffee importer Thomas Sullivan
from New York, who shipped his silk tea bags around the world. The loose tea was

intended to be removed from the bags by customers, but they found it easier to

brew the tea with the tea still enclosed in the porous bags. Modern tea bags are

usually made of paper fiber. The heat-sealed paper fiber tea bag was patented in

1930 by William Hermanson, one of the founders of Technical Papers Corporation

of Boston, who sold his patent to the Salada Tea Company.

The rectangular tea bag was not invented until 1944. Prior to this, tea bags

resembled small sacks.

A Brief History of Charcoal

Historically, the production of wood charcoal in locations where there is an

abundance of wood dates back to a very ancient period, and generally consists of

piling billets of wood on their ends so as to form a conical pile, openings being left

at the bottom to admit air, with a central shaft to serve as a flue. The whole pile is

covered with turf or moistened clay. The firing is begun at the bottom of the flue,

and gradually spreads outwards and upwards. The success of the operation depends
upon the rate of the combustion. Under average conditions, 100 parts of wood

yield about 60 parts by volume, or 25 parts by weight, of charcoal; small-scale

production on the spot often yields only about 50%, while large-scale became

efficient to about 90% even by the seventeenth century.

The operation is so delicate that it was generally left to colliers (professional

charcoal burners). They often lived alone in small huts in order to tend their wood

piles. For example, in the Harz Mountains of Germany, charcoal burners lived in

conical huts called Köten which are still much in evidence today.

The massive production of charcoal (at its height employing hundreds of

thousands, mainly in Alpine and neighbouring forests) was a major cause

of deforestation, especially in Central Europe.[when?] In England, many woods were

managed as coppices, which were cut and regrown cyclically, so that a steady

supply of charcoal would be available (in principle) forever; complaints (as early

as the Stuart period) about shortages may relate to the results of temporary over-

exploitation or the impossibility of increasing production to match growing

demand. The increasing scarcity of easily harvested wood was a major factor

behind the switch to fossil fuel equivalents, mainly coal and brown coal for

industrial use.

The modern process of carbonizing wood, either in small pieces or

as sawdust in cast iron retorts, is extensively practiced where wood is scarce, and
also for the recovery of valuable byproducts (wood spirit, pyroligneous acid, wood

tar), which the process permits. The question of the temperature of

the carbonization is important; according to J. Percy, wood becomes brown at

220 °C (428 °F), a deep brown-black after some time at 280 °C (536 °F), and an

easily powdered mass at 310 °C (590 °F).[1] Charcoal made at 300 °C (572 °F) is

brown, soft and friable, and readily inflames at 380 °C (716 °F); made at higher

temperatures it is hard and brittle, and does not fire until heated to about 700 °C

(1,292 °F).
Chapter 3: Methodology

SET-UP A ( Experimental Set-up )

Materials:

 4 teabags

 1 cup of water

 1 tablespoon of vinegar

 Cornstarch

 Crashed charcoal

 Strainer and fork

 Bottle

1. Place the 4 tea bags in 1 cup of boiling water

3. Remove the tea bags from boiling water. Use a strainer and a fork to remove all

the extracts

4. While stirring tea, add the crashed charcoal

6. Add the dissolved cornstarch as you need to have your desired consistency

7. Remove it from heat and let it cool. When done, store it to bottle
Set-up B ( Controlled Set-up )

Materials:

 4 teabags

 1 cup of water

 Strainer and fork

 Bottle
1. Place the 4 tea bags in 1 cup of boiling water

2. Create the tea for 6-8 minutes

3. Remove the tea bags from boiling water and use a strainer and fork to remove all

the extract

4. Remove it from heat and let it cool. When done, store it in a bottle
Chapter 4:Analysis and Interpretation

of Data
Findings

During the procedure, we have observed that boiling is an effective process

of extraction. Right after we have placed the crashed charcoal, the changing of

color into black is noticeable. During this step, the mixture had a very strong smell

from the tea because of the vinegar. While following the procedures for the set-up

A which included the placing of vinegar, the vinegar’s effect was seen when we

tried to paint the two inks on a paper. While applying the ink on paper, it was

difficult to use ink B because it’s consistency was very watery. Thus it became

runny and scattered unlike ink A. After letting them dry, it was seen that ink A had

a darker color while ink B’s writings was faded.

Discussion of the Results

Our hypothesis which states that tea bags have the potential to be made

into ink if vinegar, cornstarch and crashed charcoal is added is proven correct. We

had two set-ups which were set-up A that has he materials and set-up B that has no

materials except tea bags. Vinegar is mainly adilute aqueous solution of acetic acid
which is an important reagent and industrial chemical, mainly used in the

production of cellulose acetate.

Cellulose acetate is the acetate ester of cellulose. It was first prepared in

1865. Cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in

some coatings, and as a frame material for eyeglasses; it is also used as a synthetic

fiber in the manufacture of cigarette filters and playing cards. In photographic film,

cellulose acetate replaced nitrate film in the 1950s, being far less flammable and

cheaper to produce.

The additional of vinegar and cornstarch in making an ink can result to a

thicker consistency and the presence of charcoal can change the color into black

for better usage of the ink. Our observation prove that adding vinegar to the

mixture can be made into an ink because without the vinegar there would be no

consistency or the mixture and it will be less than.

Interpretation

Summary

There are many different kinds of ink. In our experiments we used teabags

as the main component out of ink. Having two different set-ups will provide the

chance to compare the colors and consistencies. Cornstarch is an efficient additive

to have the right consistency of the product. Vinegar is also efficient, it was seen

that it gave the ink a consistent color. And an amount of charcoal to change the

color into black.

We therefore conclude that one can create improvised ink using the extract

from tea bags. This will be very convenient and cheap because the ingredients to

be used are commonly found around the house. Also the said processes, boiling

and straining, are can be easily done.

 Tea bags can be used to create an ink

 Vinegar can strengthen the color of the product, ink.

 Cornstarch effectively contributes to the achieving to the right consistency

of the ink

 Charcoal can be used as blackening material

 The processes of boiling and straining are efficient in taking the extract ot of

the tea bags

Chapter 6: Bibliographies
 http://quatr.us/environment/charcoal.htm

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camellia_sinensis

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_bag

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcoal

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose_acetate

 https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-corn-starch-1328466

 https://111booksfor2011.wordpress.com/tag/making-ink-from-charcoal/

 https://www.scribd.com/doc/48878249/SIP-Format

 http://time.com/3996712/a-brief-history-of-the-tea-bag/

 https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcoal

 http://versatilevinegar.org/faqs/

 https://www.britannica.com/science/cellulose-acetate

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_starch

 https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Cornstarch

 https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-a-tea-bag-765118