Review of Related Literature

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Some crayons may contain lead which is very dangerous. It is a poisonous hazard when
swallowed, especially for infants and young children. When swallowed, it results to high blood
lead levels in children. Crayons could also be choking hazards because it is easily broken to
small bits and pieces.
Crayons are made out of a waxy substance called paraffin. Paraffin is extracted from chemicals
from wood, coal or petroleum. Pigments in crayons come from natural or artificially made
substances or substances that can be found in the Earth, minerals or in factories. Crayons can
also be made from several other resources such as beeswax, talcpigment, grated soap, colorant
wax chips,soy wax flakes, food coloring andvegetable oil.
When using crayons one of the characteristics that people look into is its color. A crayons
source of color would be pigments. As being an ingredient of the crayons color pigments are
mixed with other substances for it to be more stable and less prone to break easily. Sometimes in
mixing our pigments with other substances it turns into something that is harmful for us humans
and can affect our health, therefore we should be careful in what substances we choose to mix
with our pigments.
Antioxidants are sometimes used as preservatives in food and cosmetics, and for the prevention
the degradation of rubber and gasoline. They prevent oxidation processes by keeping the amount
of free radicals low. Highly coloured fruits and vegetables generally have high antioxidant
levels. (Lancaster, 2010)


Generally, natural colorants have higher colouring capacities than synthetic ones, as seen from
their relative absorptivities (Henry, 1996).
Vegetable pigments have many uses, namely as fabric dyes and ph indicators. The strong colors
in vegetables and fruits are due to these pigments. Examples of these would be quercetin from
yellow skins and anthocyanin from those of blue and purple hues.
Before synthetic dyes were created, natural dyes were used for fabrics. The resulting colors tend
to wear off, so a mordant was used. Mordants allow the dye and its substrate to be closely linked
and stuck together. Some common examples of mordant dyes include cochineal, madder, fustic,
osage, and logwood. This chemical can be a salt or a hydroxide of aluminum or chromium. The
most accessible and least expensive would be alum. Mordants are used to stabilize the intensity
of the hues. This is possible through the metal ions present in the mordant.
Many factors affect the natural colorant application in food. "The pH of a food will often
determine the sustainability of a particular colour for a given application. The stability of colour
shade of most natural colours are affected by pH."(Hendry, G.A.F., 1996) Another factor
affecting colour application in food would be solubility. Anthocyanins and beetroot are water
soluble, while curcumin, chlorophylls, and xanthophylls are oil soluble. Some blends of cucumin
and annatto may be both oils and water miscible. Anthocyanins act as Ph indicators. The evident
change of ph levels of the food being used for application can be evidently seen as the color of
the anthocyanin changes as well. They gradually change from red through blue-red, purple-blue
and green to yellow as the ph increases from ph 1 through 4,6,8,12, to 13 respectively. (Hendry,
G.A.F. 1996) The use of anthocyanins are limited to acidic products where the Ph is 4 or below.
Color shade is not the only affected factor of ph, but the color intensity as well. The intensity is
greatest at ph 1.0 while it decreases as the ph is gradually increased.
In a study where betalain pigment was extracted from red dragon fruit and the stability was
evaluated, fruits were homogenized with ethanol to separate pectic substances. The researchers
monitored changes of the betacyanin intensity due to light, temperature, ph and additives for
three weeks. During storage, results showed that these factors (light, temperature, ph and
additives), created a great impact to the color degradation. However, the major factor would be
light. Results showed that exposure to light was the cause of 50% colour loss after one week
storage in room temperature. The betalain pigment from the red dragon fruit was pre-heated, but
this did not prevent colour degradation. The pigment subjected to heat treatment of up to 50C
slightly reduced the juice colour. Not only did heat treatment fail to preserve the color intensity,
but the use of ascorbic acid as well. The study concluded that the best condition for preserving
betalain pigment in red dragon fruit juice is ph 5.0 at 4C, while avoiding sunlight exposure.
Introduction
- Describe your topic of interest
- Tell your reasons for choosing your topic
- Briefly explain your topics relevance & importance
- Provide an overview of what you will talk about
Body
- Group related researches
- Make themes for each paragraph
- Create a strong umbrella statement for each paragraph
- Include details in the related literature you have collected that have merit or value in
your study
- Make sure to have in text citations properly
- conclusion
- Make a summary of the major contributions/information mentioned in the body and relate
these with the introduction
- Evaluate if there are gaps or inconsistencies with the studies you have reviewed about
your topic