Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera

No one can say for certain how long Aloe Vera has been known as a medicinal plant. One of the earliest recorded pharmaceutical uses of Aloe Vera can be found on a Sumerian clay tablet dating from 2100 BC but there are reports of drawings of the plant on Ancient Egyptian temple walls from as early as 4000 BC.

It has been surrounded by myth and legend for so long that in some early cultures it acquired almost godlike status, being venerated for its healing properties.

Whatever the truth about its first recorded use, there is absolutely no doubt that Aloe Vera played a significant and important role in the pharmacology of many early civilizations from the time of Christ onwards.

There is a considerable and undeniable evidence of the use of the plant Aloe Vera as a wide-spectrum healing agent in places as far apart as Southern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, the Far East and the Americas .

There are more than 250 different known varieties of Aloe, of which only three or four have significant healing or medicinal properties. The most potent of these, rich in vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes, is Aloe barbadensis Miller, commonly known as Aloe Vera. The word “aloe” is thought to be derived from the Arabic alloeh, meaning “shining bitter substance”, while “vera” is the Latin word for “true”, because in ancient times this variety was regarded as the most effective for medicinal use.

Aloe Vera, together with the rest of the aloe genus, grows only in hot climates and is found especially in the drier regions of the Americas , Asia, Europe, Africa and Australasia .

The plant Aloe Vera resembles a cactus in appearance but is actually a perennial succulent and a member of the Liliacae family, as are the onion, garlic, asparagus, lily and tulip.

Aloe Vera is characterized by long, hard, sword-shaped green leaves with sharp points and a seemingly fearsome array of barbs on each leaf edge. The leaves grow in a rosette pattern straight out of the ground and when the plant blooms in spring or autumn its bright yellow flowers appear high above the gel-bearing leaves, at the top of a leafless stem which grows out of the middle of the plant.

Aloe Vera Nutritional Compounds

Aloe Vera is a storehouse of nutritional compounds, more than 75 have so far been identified by scientist. The list of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids reads like a what´s what of nutrition.

Researches are continuing to study the plant Aloe Vera to try to unlock is secrets, but to date the conclusion seems to be that it is the synergistic way in which all the nutritional compounds work together that gives aloe vera its magical properties.

Some nutritional compounds of Aloe Vera are:

Enzymes, Vitamins (A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, E), more that 20 minerals (Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Iron, Sodium, Choline, Magnesium and Manganese, Cooper, Chromium and Zinc), Mono and Polysaccharides, Essential Amino Acids, Lignin, Saponins and Anthraquimones.