Aloe: medicinal properties and botanical characteristics

Domenico Prisa

Authors

Domenico Prisa CREA Research Centre for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops, Via Dei Fiori 8, 51012 Pescia, Italy

Keywords:

aloe chemistry, aloe history, biodiversity, medicinal plants, medicinal properties, sustainable agriculture

Abstract

Aloe plants have been studied and used to treat many diseases for thousands of years. Since ancient times it has been used to cure human ailments. Over the last few decades, several studies have shed light on the characteristics of this plant, which seems to want to hide its secrets behind botanical and pharmacological riddles that are only now beginning to be answered. The medicinal abilities of Aloe plants have been known to man since ancient times. Therefore, we can consider Aloe a food and medicine: if you decide to take Aloe, know that you have opted for complete food. Aloe plants are a reservoir of important substances for the human body, particularly vitamins, catalyzing enzymes, sugars and medicinal oils. The German Pharmacopoeia, in its 1873 edition, at the time of Bismark, already recorded more than 300 pharmaceutical elements contained in Aloe. Modern medical literature confirms this today, with lists and lists of such ingredients, the result of research by laboratories working honestly, objectively seeking the truth. Studies show the presence of certain secondary metabolites in Aloe that can cause problems. In particular, the presence of aloin, in Aloe vera, is a compound that can be metabolised by the human gut and can cause various harmful effects such as carcinogenic, genotoxic, nephrotic and digestive problems. The presence of certain alkaloids and polysaccharides are also reported to cause liver and reproductive problems. This paper examines the botanical, cultivation and medicinal properties associated with this very important plant.

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