An Indian-origin South African teenager bagged the grand prize worth $50,000 scholarship, at the annual Google Science Fair for her work using orange peel to develop a cheaper “super-absorbent material” that helps soil retain water.

16-year-old Kiara Nirghin, a Grade 11 student at private school St Martin’s, submitted her project titled ‘No More Thirsty Crops’ which was aimed at tackling the severe drought plaguing South Africa.

Her solution to the problem of drought uses orange and avocado fruit peel that is normally discarded.

Ms. Nirghin said in her submission, said that, “I have always had a great love for chemistry since I was young. I vividly remember at the age of seven experimenting with vinegar and baking soda solutions in plastic cups.”

“M.S. Swaminathan has always been an inspiration of mine as he truly believed in the necessary movement of not only India but the whole world towards sustainable agricultural development,” she said.

“I hope to one day become a scientist specializing in agricultural science and also become a molecular gastronomist,” she added. Ms. Nirghin explained how she had found an alternative in the fruit peel to super-absorbent polymers (SAPs), which absorb and carry about 300 times their weight in liquid relative to their own mass.

“These SAPs are not biodegradable, are costly and full of acrylic acid, sodium hydroxide and other chemicals. During more research on the topic, I found that natural occurring polymers exist in most citrus fruits,” Ms. Nirghin said.

The Google Science Fair is a programme for budding scientists between the ages of 13 to 18, who are invited to solve the world’s biggest challenges using science and technology.

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Nandini