Aloe is present in many products for laxative use, but also in tonic and bitter preparations - aperitifs, because anthraquinones are extremely bitter substances. Aloe is also a source of a drug with carbohydrates / heteropolysaccharides, with a completely different type of use.
Aloe, therefore, is a source that determines different types of drugs and their different types of use. The aloe drug characterized by anthraquinones has the predominant use of the laxative-stimulating one.
Aloe is a genus of extremely rich plant species. Some have arborescent forms (up to 6-7 m in height), other very small dimensions (we talk about a few centimeters).
Aloe leaves are the part used; they are collected following a clean cut at their base and then hung in bunches on top of containers, or stacked in such a way that the juice dripping from the cut goes into a container; it is the juice, in fact, the important part in the processing and health use of this drug.
The juice that drips from the fresh leaves is then cooked over high heat, to remove all the water, as long as it does not reach a solid consistency and a red-brown color, with a glass fracture after breaking (therefore with clear margins); this type of fracture, together with coloring and texture, indicates that the extraction of aloe juice took place correctly.
From the chemical point of view, the aloe juice consists of pure anthraquinones; in this case the aloe as an anthraquinone drug should be considered with the name of Aloe ferox or Aloe barbadensis, or simply aloe juice.
Aloe juice is a product to be used with extreme caution, because it is rich in pure active ingredients with a laxative-stimulating activity. Using aloe juice as an anthraquinone drug is a very different thing than using the senna drug as an anthraquinone drug, because dried leaves or dried fruits are used in the senna (or in the case of rhubarb the rhizome is used, so not pure anthraquinones but a set of different compounds). What changes in the use of these drugs is the dosage, much lower in the case of pure anthraquinones derived from aloe juice.
The laxative effect, but also the contraindications are maximum in the aloe. For the same weight, aloe juice - compared to senna fruit, cascara bark and rhubarb rhizome - has the greatest laxative effects, while minors are dependent on rhubarb; in the same way, the side effects are maximum in aloe, because with the same weight of drugs in it are contained pure anthraquinones, while in other drugs it is called phytocomplex (the effect of anthraquinones is therefore mediated by other active molecules).
Aloe juice, therefore, is one of the drugs derived from aloe, but like every rule there is the exception that confirms it; Aloe, in fact, also gives drugs with other types of uses, such as the ALOE VERA GEL, which has nothing to do with anthraquinones and laxative properties. The part used to obtain aloe vera gel is always given by the leaves, which belong to the same source, namely Aloe barbadensis or Aloe ferox . The leaves used to obtain the gel can be those already used to extract the juice, therefore without anthraquinones, or derive from genetically selected species, to break down the anthraquinone content and make it compatible with a single type of drug, the gel. it is evident that, since the gel is not a laxative drug, it must not contain anthraquinones.
The fresh leaves of Aloe are squeezed and from this squeezing they obtain a gel, a whitish colloidal liquid, which depending on the different types of use, external or internal, is treated to be deprived of most of the water content. Aloe gel is also suitably processed to block the oxidation of some compounds that characterize it, both chemically and functionally; in general, aloe gel is added with preservatives, citric acid for example. If the use is external, the aloe gel is treated to evaporate a large part of the water present, then stabilized and added with preservatives, to avoid the attack of undesired microorganisms and the oxidation of the main functional components, or treated with UV rays. For internal use, instead, most of the water is maintained and the objectives for which it is used are different. From a compositional point of view, aloe gel is characterized by heteropolysaccharides, therefore carbohydrates, organic acids, vitamins, water. For external use it has healing, vulnerary and humectant properties. It is used in the therapy of hardly healable wounds, bedsores, but above all burns, and skin lesions or irritations in general; it is also an important soothing, like all mucilage drugs. For internal use, on the other hand, aloe gel has antioxidant, vitaminizing and adaptogenic properties (that is capable of stimulating the reactivity of the various organs of the body in relation to episodes such as moments of stress). Speaking of aloe vera gel, many other things are actually said, but it is one thing to talk about aloe gel as anticarcinogenic to make a commercial sensation, another thing is to talk about aloe gel as an anticarcinogenic from a professional point of view; therefore, since there is no certain evidence that aloe gel is anticarcinogenic, it is very important to pay attention to these characteristics. We consider the clinical aspect of aloe gel, so it is good to talk about dermatological therapies aimed at treating skin inflammations related, for example, to psoriasis treatments. When the psoriasis is in particularly heavy conditions, the patient is subjected to treatments with UV lamps, which lead to a strong irritation of the skin, just to stimulate the replacement; these people are then covered with aloe gel and vegetable tar and then bandaged. Aloe gel has in fact a strong healing and keratoplastic activity (which renews the formation of tissues).
In conclusion, Aloe is a source of anthraquinones but also of heteropolysaccharides, which results in highly different therapeutic applications.
