Pharmacological importance of Aloe vera
Aloe vera herb has been used for eras for its nutrition resourcefulness, medicinal and antiseptic properties. In current scenario, focus on plant research has increased globally and gathered research data revealed that Aloe vera possess considerable potential to be used as a medicinal plants because of its pharmacological and phytochemical properties.
Keywords: Asphodelaceae; Glucomannans; Anthraquinones; Polymannose; Alprogen; Salicylic Acid; Laxatives.
The term Aloe vera has its origin in Arabic and Latin language which means true shining bitter constituent [1]. It has been used for its medicinal benefits for ages in countries like China, Arabia, Egypt, India, South Africa, Greece, Japan, Madagascar, United States and Mexico [2]. In United States Aloe vera was consumed as a purgative but now it is used as an effective treatment for chronic dermatitis [3].There are approximately 300 species of Aloe known all over the world including the most commonly used Aloe vera, A. perryi, A. vulgaris, A. ferox, A. arborescens [4,5]. The scientific name of Aloe vera is Aloe barbadensis miller of family Asphodelaceae [6]. It is a recurrent luscious xerophytes shrub which appears green in color [7]. Aloe vera shrub has fleshy wedge-shaped leaves with notched ends and bear yellow cylindrical fruits containing numerous seeds [8].
Aloe vera foliage is consisted of three coats:
• An innermost transparent gel that is made up of amino acids, glucomannans, water, sterols lipids and vitamins [9]
• An intermediate bitter yellowish sap called as which is composed of glycosides and anthraquinones [10]
• Outermost layer of rind which is composed of 15-20 cells responsible for the making amino acids and sugars [11]. Vascular bundle is localized in the interior of rind responsible for the translocation of water and minerals [12].
Active biological constituents of Aloe vera is given in Table 1
Aloe vera has been used for curative reasons for ages to treat numerous acute and chronic illnesses given in Table 2.
Aloe vera is also consumed as a food source such as in the formulation of herbal health drinks, milk, ice-cream confectionery etc [36]. In addition its application in the pharmaceuticals for the manufacturing of current liniments, facial cleaners, gel preparations, lotions, creams, drugs and pills [37]. However, capable handling procedure needs to be established to preserve and retain almost all the bioactive constituents of Aloe vera [38]. The manufacturing route of Aloe related products involves crushing, and pressing of the Aloe vera leaf to extract its juice. The resultant extract is then incorporated with other agents to prepare the desired product [39]. It is crucial that freshly obtained Aloe vera leaves should directly go into fabrication or must be preserved at low temperature to avert loss of natural activity due to gel dilapidation [40].
Thus Aloe vera herb and its related products possess antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and anti-acne properties. Therefore it is being used for numerous pharmacological purposes.
