ABSTRACT

This study intends to resolve the problems of a parent and a child regarding on the vegetable that most children do not eat, the ampalaya. The investigation will be conducted by making Ampalaya chips which we aim to give interest to it for children. Our objective would be to create a better way for children to eat vegetables. Another is to help guardians make a much more create and fun way to feed children vegetables and to make a cheap and easy snack for everyone especially children.

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Momordica charantia also known as Bitter Melon is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in the Amazon, Carribean, South east Asia such as Philippines for its edible fruit. Ampalaya or bitter melon also known as bitter gourd as the name implies has a bitter taste due to the presence of Momordicin, and is believed to be among the most bitter of all vegetables.
Ampalaya Bitter Melon is a climbing vine that grows up to 5m, with tendrils up to 20cm. long. Amplaya leaves are heart-shaped, 5-10 cm across, cut into 5-7 lobes. Each Ampalaya Bitter Melon plant bears separate yellow male and female flowers. Ampalaya bears fleshy green fruit, oblong shaped with pointed ends, ribbed and wrinkled, bursting when mature to release seeds. Ampalaya seeds are flat with ruminated margins.

A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Bitter melon or Ampalaya is said to be the most bitter of all vegetables of cooking in Asian countries. Different countries formulate their own dishes and improve its cultivation for a higher demand in the market. Ampalaya is also used in the field of medicine and it contributes to aid treatment of different illness. Furthermore, children do not like eating vegetables particularly if it is Ampalaya because of its bitter taste. However, Ampalaya has a unique nutrient that gives a healthy body and free from disease. It is good for rheumatism and diseases of the liver, aids in lowering blood sugar level and blood pressure, it can relieve headache, disinfects and heal wounds and burns, it can be used as a cough and fever remedy and helps to prevent diabetes and some types of cancer. These are some of different health benefits of eating Ampalaya. Instead of eating Ampalaya itself, it will become more favorable of eating if it is in a form of chips. This study will help to improve eating Ampalaya and to prevent diabetes and different illnesses by using Ampalaya as an ingredient of making chips.

B. MAIN PROBLEMS
The research is focusing on making chips using Ampalaya and it aims to answer the following question:
1) Does the method of making produce the nutritious Ampalaya chips be more encouraging and effective to the children of today?
2) What can the researchers do to the ampalaya to make people especially children to be more enlightened upon eating vegetables?
C. HYPOTHESIS
1) Yes it will be a more nutritious alternative of junk food for children.
2) That the researchers will make ampalaya into chips so that it will be more appealing for the kids to eat vegetables.

D. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The researchers experiment is aimed to lessen the burden of feeding children vegetables and to also lessen the risk of obesity and diabetes; through ampalaya chips. Especially for the technology driven youth of today who lack physical activity and have bad eating habits. Ampalaya is a nutritious vegetable and has recently been proven to be an effective herbal medicine for ailments. Most significant of which is for diabetes. Ampalaya is probably among the most bitter vegetables on earth due to the presence of Momordicin in it, which makes feeding children ampalaya even harder. To make eating ampalaya alluring, we cooked them as chips to be appealing enough for children to eat but still maintaining its nutrients.
For Diabetic patient
It is easier for diabetic patients to eat ampalaya because of having ready to eat ampalaya chips instead of preparing and cooking ampalaya before eating.
For Children Ampalaya chips will have benefits to children because they can gain the different vitamins of an ampalaya without knowing of what they are eating.

E. DEFINTION OF TERMS
1. Ampalaya - or bitter melon also known as bitter gourd as the name implies has a bitter taste due to the presence of Momordicin, and is believed to be among the most bitter of all vegetables.
2. Diabetes- a serious disease in which the body cannot properly control the amount of sugar in your blood because it does not have enough insulin
3. Diseases- an illness that affects a person, animal, or plant
4. Treatment- an experimental condition
5. Chips- a small piece of candy or chocolate used in baking

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This project is quite similar in making seaweed chips to make it more tolerable to eat for children as well.
The review of the study focuses to other studies and projects about Seaweed Chips. Facts were gathered from the internet as references in order for the researchers to be guided for the needed information about their experiment. According to the researchers of this project titled The Feasibility of Seaweed (Eucheuma cottonii) Chips as a Nutritional snack food, from the nutritional tests they learned that the seaweed samples have minimal amounts of fat and protein but are rich in carbohydrates. Also, seaweed chips are feasible as a carbohydrate-and iodine-rich nutritional snack food. They conclude that the seaweed chip is feasible as a carbohydrate-iodine rich nutritional snack food. It is stated in an article in the website site of livestrong.com, seaweeds are not as common as chips and candies, but eating seaweeds offer nutritional benefits, particularly if you’re dieting. If you eat seaweed snacks instead of potato chips, you'll reduce your calorie and sodium intake. You can get many benefits from it like seaweed chips contain very low calorie, so seaweed chips fit into a diet especially nowadays that teenagers are really conscious about their body weight and also it is also good to eat seaweed chips because eating seaweeds help you avoid some nutritional pitfalls of candy because seaweeds are sugar-free. Moreover, eating seaweeds provide you with Vitamin C that helps your body heal wounds and maintains teeth, bones and cartilage. Methodology Investigatory Project "Seaweed Chips as a Nutritional Snack Food.

CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
Materials To produce the nutritious Ampalaya chips, the materials needed are Ampalaya, salt, a tablespoon of sugar, paper towels or clean cloth, and oil about 250 ml. The amount of each material is based on the serving desired.
To start everything up, the be Ampalaya shall be sliced in to half then to very thin slices, after doing so place it in a bowl with salt on paper towels to dry up and absorb the bitterness of the vegetable. After 20-30 minutes, rinse the vegetable under cold water and dry it again with paper towels.
After preparing the ampalaya, preheat the oil in the deep fryer or casserole pot if the latter is not available. Once the oil is heated, fry the prepared Ampalaya wait for it to cook. Remember not to overcrowd the casserole with the Ampalayas, once it is cooked, place it in a plate with tissue papers so it would absorb all the excess oil from the vegetable. After that, dip it in the granulated sugar or confectioner’s sugar if you have. Or if you have any other semi-sweet alternatives from sugar, you may also use it.

CHAPTER IV
PRESENTATION, DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
Data Analysis Deep frying did lessen the bitterness of the ampalaya but it has not removed the total bitterness of it. And considering its nutrition, it is not confirmed or finalized because the testing did not succeed.

CHAPTER V
FINDINGS AND SUMMARY
As the researchers were doing the study they noticed that the bitterness of the Ampalaya was not totally removed, and that some of the Ampalaya especially the white or light colored Ampalaya are less bitter than the green colored ones.
RECOMMENDATION
The researchers do not recommend you to use deep fried ampalaya chips as alternative for junk food. The ampalaya chips have lost its nutrients during the deep frying. Since both have already been processed, they are no longer healthy to eat especially for children. Therefore the researchers recommend that we bake the ampalaya to make it into chips so that its nutrients will not be lost.

CONCLUSION Ampalaya chips is perfect alternative of junk food. Since they are deep fried, they have lost the nutrients the children eat; which are the primary aim of this experiment. If we look closely to it's nutrition facts, it really helps us maintain our health. The researchers therefore agreed to make ampalaya chips a nutritious and healthy snack all at once.