VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

On one hand, the sunshine that shines throughout the year in Indonesia has a positive impact. On the other hand, sunlight contains UV-A and UV-B rays. Of course, it will have a negative impact on human skins such as sunburn, premature aging, and even dangerous diseases, namely skin cancer. Based on the results of the 2007 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) survey, skin cancer ranks the third largest of all types of cancer in Indonesia. For this reason, 5 Chemical engineering students of University of Brawijaya (UB) Malang created a sunscreen to protect the skin. They use avocado waste, natural substance as the main ingredients in sunscreen.

Avocado is chosen because nowadays, Indonesia produces a lot of avocadoes. However, generally, the part of avocado that is used is only the meat, while the other part is discarded. Of course, this will cause a lot of avocado peel and seed waste when viewed from the amount of production. In fact, avocado seeds and skin contain secondary metabolite compounds, such as tannins, flavonoids, and vegetable oils. All of these compounds can be used as chemical absorbers because they can absorb UVT. The sunscreen is named IVERALM which is made from waste avocado seeds and skins.

IVERALM is in the form of a cream measuring 60 mL and is sold for Rp40, 000 per bottle. If the buyers return five used product bottles, they will exchange them for a tote bag with an attractive design. In addition, the IVERALM Team plans to cooperate with the Malang Recycling Center (PDU) to recycle the returned bottles. In the future, the IVERALM formula will be further developed to make it more optimal and increase the variants of bottle sizes and packaging.