What is aloe?
Aloes, of which there are approximately 500 species, belong to the family Liliaceae. The name, meaning “bitter and shiny substance,” derives from the Arabic “alloeh.” Indigenous to the Cape of Good Hope, these perennial succulents grow throughout most of Africa, southern Arabia, and Madagascar, and are cultivated in Japan, North and South America, and in the Caribbean and Mediterranean regions. They do not grow in rain forests or arid deserts. Often attractive ornamental plants, their fleshy leaves are stiff and spiny along the edges and grow in a rosette. Aloe gel is a clear, thin, gelatinous material that is obtained by crushing the mucilaginous cells found in the inner tissue of the leaf.
Many people refer to the active ingredient or extract of Aloe Vera as Aloe. It’s the sappy liquid that the succulent plant excretes when its stalks are cut open. A ubiquitous ingredient in countless cosmetics, sunscreen, lotion, burn ointments, and balms, Aloe is a powerful healing ointment, both topically and internally. Many scientific studies have shown that aloe is beneficial in speeding the healing of burns, sunburns, cuts, bites, rashes, and lesions, as well as other conditions like indigestion. Unlike many purported natural, plant-based medicines or ointments, Aloe’s positive health effects have been well-documented and studied. Aloe Vera has an anti-inflammatory chemical called B-sitosterol that effectively treats many skin conditions arising from insect bites, plant rashes like poison oak, allergic eruptions, etc. Along with another ingredient, salicylic acid, Aloe greatly reduces the time it takes for skin to heal from minor or severe burns. It is used as a topical treatment
