Aloe vera
Dublin Core
Title
Aloe vera
Subject
Taxonomy
Phylum :Tracheophyta
Class :Liliopsida
Order :Asparagales
Family :Asphodelaceae
Genus :Aloe
Species :Aloe vera
Phylum :Tracheophyta
Class :Liliopsida
Order :Asparagales
Family :Asphodelaceae
Genus :Aloe
Species :Aloe vera
Synonyms
Aloe barbadensis Mill., Aloe chinensis Steud. ex Baker, Aloe elongata Murray, Aloe flava Pers., Aloe indica Royle, Aloe lanzae Tod., Aloe maculata Forssk. [Illegitimate], Aloe rubescens DC., Aloe variegate Forssk. [Illegitimate], Aloe vulgaris Lam.
Common name
Lidah buaya (Peninsular); bunga raja raja (Sabah), barbados aloe, curaçao aloe, coastal aloe, Indian aloe, medicinal aloe, mediterranean aloe, true aloe, west indian aloe
Description
Characteristics
A perennial shrub with 30-40 cm high.
A perennial shrub with 30-40 cm high.
Morphology
Leaves
Whether erect or slightly spreading, about 16 blades per plant, 40-50 cm x 6-7 cm in dimension, narrowly triangular, the upper surface greenish-grey to pale green together with spots and the lower blade usually lighter. The leave margin firm with minute deltoid pale teeth that measure 2 mm long. Root In the form of taproot, 5-10 cm long with abundant secondary root at the top of the soil. The root form a dense group and the secondary shoot that rise from the root gives rise to a new plant. The stem is short
Inflorescence
Spike, simple and rarely branched, 60-100 cm tall, densely flowered with yellow, orange or red in colour. The anther and stigma is exserted.
Fruit
The form of capsule, ovoid and whitish green. The seed is numerous.
Root
In the form of taproot and 5-10 cm long with abundant secondary root at the top of the soil. The root form a dense group and the secondary shoot that rise from the root gives rise to a new plant. The stem is short.
Chemical compound
Naphthalene derivative (e.g. aloveroside A, aloveroside B) and phenyl pyrones (e.g. ρ-coumaroyl aloenin, aloenin B, 10-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl aloenin, aloenin-2′-ρ-coumaroyl ester, aloenin aglycone), Methanol extract of dried A. vera powder has been reported to contain chromones (e.g. chrysophanol, 7-hydroxy-2,5-dimethylchromone, saiko-chromone A, 5-((S)-2′-oxo-4′-hydroxypentyl)-2-hydroxymethylchromone, 5-((S)-2′-oxo-4′-hydroxypentyl)-2-(β-glucopyranosyl-oxy-methyl)-chromone, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-7-methoxy-2-methylchromone, 5-((4E)-2′-oxo-pentenyl)-2-hydroxymethylchromone, 7-hydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methylchromone, cinnamoyl-C-glycoside chromone, aloesin, 8-C-glucosyl-(R)-aloesol, 8-C-glucosyl-7-O-methyl-(S)-aloesol, and isoaloeresin D) and antraquinone (e.g. 10-hydroxyaloin A, 10-hydroxyaloin B, aloe-emodin, barbaloin/aloin A, isobarbaloin/aloin B). It contain anthraquinone dimers (e.g. elgnica dimer A and elgnica dimer B), glycoproteins (e.g. aloctin A), fatty acids (e.g. β-sitosterol, cholesterol, campesterol), polysaccharides (e.g. acemannan, neutral and acidic polysaccharides (consisted of glucose, galactose, mannose, glucuronic acid or uronic acid)) and prostaglandins.
Plant part used
Leaves and gel
Traditional uses
- Used as a topical treatment for burns, wounds, various other skin conditions and has also been used orally as a laxative.
- A. vera gel find its application primarily acted as skin healer and prevents injury of epithelial tissues, cures acne and gives a youthful glow to skin and also acts as extremely powerful laxative.
- As a resource of functional food, especially for the preparation of health food drinks and other beverages including tea .
Medicinal uses
- The gel significantly (p<0.05) reduced the vasodilation, increased the postcapillary venular permeability as encountered in the untreated burn, increased the arteriolar diameter up to normal condition, reduced the amount of leukocyte adhesion as observed and showed that the postcapillary venular permeability was not different from the sham controls.
- It orally to several reagents (kaolin carrageenan, albumin, dextran, gelatin, and mustard) induced-hind paw rats showed remarkable anti-inflammatory activity especially in gelatin-induced and kaolin-induced edema and showed lowest activity for dextran-induced edema, dependent on the presence of anthraquinones in the extract.
- Aloe-emodin (AE), a hydroxyanthraquinone constituent of A. vera leaves inhibited the growth of human neuroectodermal tumors in mice through the induction of apoptosis, where the selectivity against neuroectodermal tumor cells was founded on a specific energy-dependent pathway of drug incorporation.
- A combination of acemannan (ACE-M) extracted from A. vera with suboptimal noncytotoxic concentrations of azidothymidine (AZT) synergistically acted to inhibit the replication of HIV-1 or with acyclovir (ACY) to inhibit herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1).
List of country
Africa, Southern Arabia, Madagascar, West Indies and Bahamas, Southern USA, Mexico, Central America, Arabia, other parts of Asia and Australia
Creator
Aloe vera (Burm.f.,1768)
Source
Publisher
Nur Athirah Roshaizi
Contributor
Nur Athirah Roshaizi
Language
English
Collection
Citation
Aloe vera (Burm.f.,1768), “Aloe vera,” BIDARA, accessed February 4, 2026, https://bidara.uthm.edu.my/items/show/393.