Aloe vera

Aloe vera, the true aloe, is a widespread plant species of the genus "Aloen" from the grass family (Xanthorrhoeaceae).
The plant grows mostly stemless, forms 10-16 elongated, rosette-like arranged, fleshy, grey-green, smooth 4-7 cm wide, marginally toothed leaves that can reach a length of 40 to 50 cm. The flowers are in racemes on an inflorescence 60 to 90 cm long.
Aloe vera is cultivated in all subtropical and tropical regions of the world. Also in the Mediterranean region.

Aloe is the official parent plant of "Aloe", a pharmaceutical drug (Aloe inspissatus; bear's gall) obtained from the leaf juice by evaporation to drying. The juice spontaneously flows out at the base of the plant after the leaves are cut off. Basically 2 starting substrates are obtained by different processing methods of the extract:

Aloe hepatica: is produced by slow, gentle evaporation as a matt brown liver-coloured solid, the so-called "Aloe hepatica type".

Aloe lucida: Formed by rapid evaporation as a deep brown, glassy solid, the "Aloe lucida type".

Aloe has a very bitter taste, is not very soluble in cold water and very soluble in hot water.

The following are referred to as medicinal products:

• Curaçao Aloe (Barbados Aloe); Curaçao Aloe is obtained from Aloe barbadensis Miller (Aloe vera L) and contains as essential ingredient the strongly laxative 1,8-dihydroxyanthracene derivative Aloin.
• Cape aloe (Aloe capensis) is extracted from Aloe ferox Miller Art.

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2. Puvabanditsin P et al. (2005) Efficacy of aloe vera cream in prevention and treatment of sunburn and suntan. J Med Assoc Thai 88 Suppl 4:S173-6.

3. Yimam M et al. (2015) Aloesin as a medical food ingredient for systemic oxidative stress of diabetes. World J Diabetes 6:1097-107.

4. Zaid AN et al. (2019) Depigmentation and Anti-aging Treatment by Natural Molecules. Curr Pharm Des 25:2292-2312.