Colombia. High school students from the Francisco de Paula Santander Technical Educational Institution, in Galapa (Atlántico), carried out a project in which they converted dried leaves of different species into total extracts that are used as organic paint.
One of the members of the school's research hotbed, Paula Serrano, commented that her group carried out an investigation in which they discovered that through species such as matarratón, bonga, cariaquito morado, ceiba and nim, they would achieve their purpose.
The plant material obtained is subjected to a drying process for a period of 15 days. In this period, the sheets are placed on newspapers, which are changed every 72 hours to prevent them from being damaged, according to Celia Trillos, professor of Chemistry and coordinator of the project.
The leaves then go through grinding and spraying processes, which are performed by the students with mills and blenders. The contents are then introduced into glass jars to prevent damage to the metabolites of the plant material.
Finally, a certain amount of ethanol alcohol must be poured to achieve the extraction of the color. There is a release of metabolites such as chlorophyll and chromoplasts that plants acquire by absorbing sunlight. Finally, the plant material is subjected to the chemical filtration process to obtain organic paint.
With information from www.elheraldo.com
