Aloe is an ancient cultivated plant that originates mainly from North Africa. Cultivated Aloe Vera is mainly in the Antilles islands and coastal areas of Venezuela. The name Curacao aloe comes from the fact that the drug was once exported mainly via Curacao, although no aloe species grow on Curacao itself.
Use of aloe vera
The plant is now the basis of a large industry for the production of cosmetic preparations and food (drinking products), which has found its place mainly in the southern United States and Central America.
The main product nowadays is the aloe gel, which comes from the mucilaginous tissue of the leaf interior. In addition, the yellow leaf exudate, the actual curaçao aloe, is used.
Aloe vera: characteristics of plant and drug.
The true aloe is a stemless rosette plant with fleshy, thick and up to 50 cm long leaves, whose leaf edges are coarsely toothed. In addition, there are yellow to orange-yellow or red flowers, which are arranged in dense racemes. The inflorescences can grow up to 1 m high.
Aloe in the narrower sense is the dried cell sap of various species of the genus Aloe. The drug is obtained in different ways depending on the region – by gentle evaporation, one obtains the liver-colored, usually matte aloe hepatica varieties, which essentially correspond to the curaçao aloe. Rapid evaporation yields the shiny aloe-lucida varieties, which usually correspond to Cape aloe. The brown powder of the drugs dissolves in ethanol when heat is applied; it is insoluble in ether and chloroform.
Odor and taste
Aloe emits a strong, characteristic odor. The taste of aloe is considered unpleasant and bitter.
