Ever wonder what Aloe Vera is? Or why so many products include aloe vera?
Aloe Vera is a member of the Lily family, a perennial plant that resembles a cactus. These plants thrive in warm arid locations, hence why it is often found in desert and warm climates. The aloe vera plant does not thrive in frosty locations. The typical aloe vera plant with thick spiny leaves grows from the base of the plant and usually has 12-16 leaves the can weigh up to 3 pounds. Mature plants can grow as tall as 4 feet.
There are currently over 250 different species of aloe, of these only 5 are recognized as having nutritional and medicinal value. These include:
- Aloe Barbadensis Miller sometimes called Aloe Linne, Aloe Vulgaris or the Curacao Aloe
- Aloe Perryi Baker also known as the Socotrine or Zanzibar Aloe
- Aloe Ferox also known as Cape Aloe
- Aloe Arborescens
- Aloe Saponaria
Most people are aware of the benefits of aloe vera gel to treat minor cuts and burns along with other skin ailments, what most don’t realize is that there are valuable nutrients in the whole leaf of an aloe vera plant. Our products include a combination of the whole leaf and the gel.
The Aloe Vera leaf is made up of four layers:
- Sap – Layer of bitter fluid, this is the plants natural defense against animals
- Aloe Vera – Inner gel that contains 8 essential amino acids that the human body cannot produce
- Rind – the outer layer that protects the leaf
- Mucilage Gel – the inner part of the leaf that is used to make aloe vera gel