Talk:Aloe

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 24 August 2020 and 12 December 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Jhilgers96.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 13:55, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Confusion and wrong citation ?

Systematic reviews of randomised and controlled clinical trials have provided no evidence that Aloe vera has a strong medicinal effect.[2][3] Other research however suggests Aloe vera can significantly slow wound healing compared to normal protocols of treatment.[4]

vs

Today, the gel found in the leaves [...] The gel's effect is nearly immediate, plus it also applies a layer over wounds that is said to reduce the chance of any infection.[4]

• The reader gets confused - So is it about *then* and *today* ? Is it good for skin or not?
• Does citation [4] really support both claims? Possible, but looks like a mistake rather

This article is junk

I don't think the heraldry link is right....its to the wrong kind!

aloe is of the family liliaceae (the lily family) or aloaceae, not whatever is written here

i really do like this article it is very awesome.

The phrase "The dose is 130-320 mg, that of aloin being 30-130 mg. " What sort of way is that to start a paragraph? The portion that follows that line is overly scientific, and meaningless to a layman. What's a "haemorrhoid" anyway and where's the hyperlink? "The drug is obviously contraindicated" Obviously? What the hell is obvious about that?

The comment above references dosage. It's important to know how much aloe vera gel to drink (too much could be bad). The Aloe Vera Studies Organization recommends between two to four ounces, two times a day. ( I suppose this is for adults. They really should say how much for teenagers and children. ) Healthguru321 21:03, 12 November 2007 (UTC)healthguru321

Eh, the whole article just annoys me...

Contrary to my edit summary, I moved User:Yann's photo to Agave, since Century plant already had a good picture of a plant in bloom. —JerryFriedman 18:46, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)

why does Aloe vera redirects to here? bah! -Pedro 19:40, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

This page has alot of issues. It reads choppily and the section on medicinal uses is barely comprehensible. 66.68.101.3 15:02, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

I've tried to start on a cleanup, and removed a few small bits I couldn't find documentation for. But it needs a lot more - MPF 13:25, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

• • Removing information just because you ignore is not a good thing to be done. -Pedro 15:48, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

The article seems to be... self conflicting somewhat. For example They are native to the drier parts of Africa, especially South Africa's Cape Province and the mountains of tropical Africa. and This is often the most common known use of the plant and the rubbing of aloe vera leaves onto sun-burned skin dates back to civilizations such as the Mayas and the Incas I do wonder how the Incas and Mayas could use a plant that, according to the article, grows only in Africa... Wish someone knowledgeable could fix this article Ghilz

Aloe has been extensively written about in Ayurveda. I don't understand how the article says says "A few species have become naturalized in India".

Many will undoubtedly disagree with me, but I think a complete rewrite will do this article much good. As for the Maya and Inca stuff, that's just complete nonsense. Sjschen 02:30, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

Aloe Vera Benefits to Skin

I merged this article with aloe. The content is in the "unproven" benefits section. The information needs to be verified. -- Kjkolb 11:01, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

Are the previous comments debating whether aloe is proven/effective as a topical skin treatment or the other alleged benefits such as lowering blood sugar, use as a laxative, anti cancer agent and asthma treatment? ||||| Um, interjection: Aloe Vera is used as a skin treatment--Fawxes 09:15, 7 June 2006 (UTC)||||| Your information regarding a study which supported it's use as a burn relief agent seems to substantiate aloe's use in this area. Perhaps you could add information detailing how the plant soothes burns in humans. Is it the amino acids or vitamins contained in the plant that produces the soothing results? This could help to support these claims.

sorry i triple posted this info. . . i'm a novice--Mickydog 15:20, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

I did fnd some information on the vitamins and minerals that are in aloe vera that will be useful to add to the benefits section. Thank you for the comment-it helps to add evidence to my claims. --Heatherlange24 00:08, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

HELFUL HINTS:

I think that this article needs a little improvement. There are sections that are too wordy and too confusing to understand. I think that the good points would be all of the uses and the history of the uses. It might be a good idea to explain more about how the mayas and aztecs used aloe and how it was discovered. I think that the first picture is good, but the others are not as necessary. Overall I found it interesting but around the middle I found myself loosing interest because of the wordiness, maybe try to use some simpler words. Arobutz

I removed that black and white picture of the plant. it blocks the text (in a firefox browser, anyway) and it wasn't that good looking anyway. -Guy

I understand that there have been some perhaps overly aggressive multi-level marketing operations who have may have oversold Aloe's benefits. But, as with the Dan Rather-Memogate case (just because the memos saying W was AWOL were phony doesn't mean W WASN'T AWOL), the shadiness and agressiveness of SOME Aloe miracle-cure marketers should not blind us to some pertinent facts:

(1) As mentioned in the current Wiki article itself, Aloe contains 19 of the 20-22 Aminos, and 7 of the 8 Essential Aminos. It's also very rich in a broad and comprehensive array of Vitamins and Minerals.

(2) It also is a very good source of some Glyconutrients -- which have been getting quite a lot of buzz lately, not only on the web but also from Big Pharma (currently pursuing about 15 trials to see if they can "package" these Glyconutrients). Glyconutrients are getting a lot of attention because they seem to function as a "communication" medium between cells -- making them important in situations such as apoptosis (where "bad" eg cancerous cells get killed) and immunity (where "bad" eg foreign cells also meet the same end). The "communication" function of glyconutrients reminds one of the proximity between cells providing host immunity and cells involved in the neurological system -- and communication, intelligence, and immunity are intuitively similar functions, it being necessary for natural killer cells, macrophages, etc to quickly "learn" and adapt to foreign pathogens and home-ground neoplasms -- the better to snuff them.

This could all seem like touchy-feely bullshit if it weren't for all those Big Pharma companies researching glyconutrients... Check out Acemannan or Mannose -- a glyconutrient very present in Aloe. Both naturopaths and Big Pharma and a few peer-reviewed papers have spread a lot of buzz about Acemannan -- so this isn't just the multi-level marketing scams talking.

I think that in order for the main Aloe article to be properly "balanced" in the Wiki sense, we need to go a BIT more into the lab results that led to the FDA's approval of injectable Acemannan in 1994 -- and the later studies leading up to their ban of it.

Personal disclosure -- I chop huge leaves from the plant and put the gel in a blender (NOT the green skin of the aloe leaf (which is the laxative part overly emphasized in the current wiki article, and which, as a protective integument, is OBVIOUSLY going to have a very different function than the inside) -- just the succulent interior, a gooey gel which I also rub all over including IN my eyes and nose. -- ScottAlexander

Aloe vera

Looks to me that what this needs more than anything is to have the material on Aloë vera moved out into a separate article. Brya 15:04, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, or something like Aloe (herbal remedy) since it should be possible to have an Aloe vera article about the species, and as the article says the remedies often include extracts from multiple species. Stan 00:34, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

That is a good point. I am not at all clear if more than one species is involved. There are too many general statements here, which of course is typical of marketting plant products. Brya 07:38, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree too. Let'us split some of this article off into an aloe herbal remedy article. Sjschen 02:21, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

2 points: 1 I know of an aloe vera plant 6 feet tall. The current text says "may grow to 4 feet". How do i supply a photo of it next to a human? This is in Bridgewater, Adelaide Hills, South Australia 2 I personally healed a tropical ulcer on my hand overnight by applying raw aloe vera. A doctor told me that this was not possible as tropical ulcer are caused by agents in the blood requiring antibiotics: topical treatment useless he said. Not so. Any correspondence welcome: kerusty2@tpg.com.au

Definitely Aloe vera? - checked a few references, all gave maxima of 80-100 cm. There are about 400 species, some of which get much larger (e.g. A. dichotoma, to 9 m tall). - MPF 09:43, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Sounds good to me - but which parts to split off? Some of the medicinal material may apply to other Aloe spp. MidgleyDJ 21:24, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Agreed; the Aloe vera page should be about the species, with all the medicinal uses for the genus on a separate page (Stan's suggested title is a good idea) linked from both the species page and from this genus page - MPF 09:43, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Definitely move the Aloe Vera Part

Aloe vera is different to other Aloes -- ie. "true aloe". It is the variety used medicinally and it is important that the aloe vera article is separate to the aloe article.--Fawxes 09:11, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

I removed much of the unreferenced, untested or unsubstantiated claims re: Aloe bardadensis (Aloe vera). I'm also in favour of the split, though some compounds etc dervied from Aloes come from other species eg: Aloe ferrox. MidgleyDJ 22:10, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Three of the other Aloe species already have their own articles, Aloe aristata, Aloe dichotoma, Aloe variegata and the rest are red links. I agree it is fair that Aloe vera should have its own article - it does not need to be very different for the other aloes to motivate that. // Habj 08:43, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Probably the best solution would be, as suggested in the section above, to move all the herbal medicine aspects of the aloes to a separate article. // Habj 08:50, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Aloe vera is also used to treat a variety of skin conditions like eczema, acne, sunburn, etc.

Done; Aloe vera now has its own page - MPF 10:54, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Aloe extracts?

My thoughts were the majority of "extracts" of Aloe came from Aloe vera. I've moved the material on wound healing/cosmetics to Aloe vera. Do we have any references for the internal uses section? MidgleyDJ 19:57, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

list of species?

The article currently features an incomplete listing of species? Do we want to keep this system (with the link to complete list?) Or would it be better to discuss groups of Aloe's ie: tree Aloes, stemless Aloes, creeping Aloes etc? MidgleyDJ 19:59, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Compounds in Aloes

re: this material below. Who is WA Shenstone - there was no reference provided. Googling seems to indicate this material has been plagiarised from an unreferenced source. Thoughts on what to do with it? MidgleyDJ 08:28, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

=== Chemical properties of Aloin ===

Aloins are soluble and can be water extracted by water. According to W. A. Shenstone, two classes of Aloins are recognized: (1) nataloins, which yield picric and oxalic acids with nitric acid, and do not give a red coloration with nitric acid; and (2) barbaloins, which yield aloetic acid (C₇H₂N₃O₅), chrysammic acid (C₇H₂N₂O₆), and picric and oxalic acids with nitric acid, being reddened by the acid. This second group may be divided into a-barbaloins, obtained from Barbadoes aloes, and reddened in the cold, and b-barbaloins, obtained from Socotrine and Zanzibar aloes, reddened by ordinary nitric acid only when warmed or by fuming acid in the cold. Nataloin (2C₁₇H₁₃O₇·H₂O) forms bright yellow scales. Barbaloin (C₁₇H₁₈O₇) forms yellow prismatic crystals.

=== Medicinal use of Aloin ===

The dose is 130-320 mg, that of aloin being 30-130 mg. Aloes can be absorbed from a broken surface and will then cause purging. When given internally, it increases the actual amount as well as the rate of flow of the bile. It hardly affects the small intestine but markedly stimulates the muscular coat of the large intestine, causing purging in about fifteen hours. There is hardly any increase in the intestinal secretion, the drug being emphatically not a hydragogue cathartic. There is no doubt that its habitual use may be a factor in the formation of haemorrhoids, as in the case of all drugs that act powerfuly on the lower part of the intestine without simultaneously lowering the venous pressure by causing increase of secretion from the bowel. Aloes also tends to increase the menstrual flow and therefore belongs to the group of emmenagogues. Aloin is preferable to aloes for therapeutic purposes, as it causes less, if any, pain. It is a valuable drug in many forms of constipation, as its continual use does not, as a rule, lead to the necessity of enlarging the dose. Its combined action on the bowel and the uterus is of especial value in chlorosis, of which amenorrhoea is an almost constant symptom. The drug should not be taken during pregnancy and when haemorrhoids are present. Many well-known patent medicines consist essentially of aloes.

== Lign-aloes and Agarwood ==

The lign-aloes are quite different from plants of the genus Aloe Vera. The term "Aloes" is used in the Bible (Numbers 24:6), but as the trees usually supposed to be meant by this word are not native in Syria, it has been suggested that the Septuagint reading in which the word does not occur is to be preferred. Lign-aloe is a corruption of the Latin lignum-aloe, a wood, not a resin. Dioscorides refers to it as agallochon, a wood brought from Arabia or India, which was odoriferous but with an astringent and bitter taste. This may be Agarwood, a native of East India, South East Asia, and China, which supplies the so-called eagle-wood or aloes-wood, which contains much resin and oil.

Restructuring

The article has been restructured slightly, but the content has not been changed to help with the cleanup effort. The long list of type of Aloe has been moved to the bottom of the page, and the real information closer to the top. SuperTycoon 16:48, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Request

Added by User:Plexos to article; moved here by MPF:

Request for article on Aloe Venenosa, in what part of the world does it grow and what does it look like for example? If you are thinking of using the juice of a local Aloe plant you need to know if it might be the poisonous type. I couldn't find location information on the web as of 27Aug06 although there was one image in google images.

http://www.tosca.si/zvone/cactusbase/a/rod_aloe_seznam.html contains a reference to aloe venenosa: Engl., Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 15. 471., 1893 - note that the reference is 1893, that the only one I could find. No pictures. Please note that all aloe species are poisonous in large doses. Rhodescus 18:21, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

I looked up Aloe venenosa on Kew's index of world monocots, which says that it grows in NE Angola. I'll check the primary source for it a bit later.

As for which species of Aloe are poisonous, I did find an article that describes the isolation of the piperidine alkaloid coniine at least five Aloe species including Aloe viguieri, A. globuligemma, A. ortholopha, A. krapholiana, and A. descoingsii. I have yet to find any articles that state that Aloe venenosa was explored.

OrthoPara (talk) 19:54, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

I was looking for gardening information for my small aloe, so that I would not kill it. Would be a useful addition to the entry. Georgia6@mac.com

References

Incorrect Citation

The statement that aloe is genotoxic isn't supported by the citation: http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/aloe.html

That citation cites another article on pubmed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9020301&dopt=Abstract

The abstract states "results from some of the studies suggest that components of senna products, particularly emodin and aloe-emodin, have genotoxic activity."

A better citation would be: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=10434060&itool=iconabstr&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum stating that there is a good chance that anthraquinones are genotoxic and mutagenic.

Citing the citations in the citation?

I don't have access to the pubmed articles, but someone who does could rewrite it.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=10829589&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_docsum is another citation, using aloe vera hydrogel in the treatment of mouth ulcers.

Mucilage is known to be in aloe, and known to be a soothing compound. Probably marshmallow and plantain (plantago major) would be a less controversial treatment (and cheaper.)

People love aloe though. I've stopped using it. Some doctor in Arizona did an online article about using aloe vera gel in the eyes as a treatment. That may have sparked the craze for aloe vera eye treatments. He was careful to specify using just the gel, but I can't find the article now.

The current article talks about supposed treatments, research and fads. I suspect that someone more knowledgable could come up with a timeline and history of aloe fads, that'd be awsome! Jeanne Rose states (Herbs and things, 1972, 1978) that aloe is poisonous used in large doses or for an extended period of time. So the current research is nothing new to herbalist knowledge (possible genotoxicity and hematotoxicity are just flavors - taking internally is a big caution anyways.)

There's no writeup here about possible contact dermatitis resulting from exposure to the juice (not the gel) and I don't have a citation reference for that one.

The article also references cascara sagrada. That was also known as a potentially dangerous plant to herbalists (Jeanne Rose, 1972, 1978.)

Rhodescus 18:21, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Use as a laxative?

Does that mean that if I drink something containing aloe vera, I'll get diarhorrea? --Candy-Panda 08:04, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Incorrect citation part 2

In the article it says: "Systematic reviews of randomised and controlled clinical trials have provided evidence that Aloe vera has a strong medicinal effect" and points to two references, with links. Here are the relevant conclusions from the abstracts for those two references: "There is no evidence from clinical trials to suggest that topical Aloe vera is effective in preventing or minimising radiation-induced skin reactions in cancer patients." and "The data for aloe vera gel and tea tree oil indicate that for neither is there compelling evidence of effectiveness." In other words, the citations reach the exact opposite conclusion as the sentence in the article. I'm going to hope the sentence was a typo and actually should have read "...clinical trials have provided no evidence..." since that's what the linked references clearly state. If it was not a typo, that's a very bad abuse of those references. Emeraldemon (talk) 19:03, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Useless trivia

Who cares that aloe was featured on a post stamp? Proski (talk) 16:15, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Aloe Vera

What i know about Aloe Vera it's used both internally and externally on humans,and is claimed to have medicinal effects.The gel in the leaves can be made into a smooth type of cream that can heal burns such as sunburns.They can also be made into types of specail soaps. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.31.193.5 (talk) 15:09, 30 March 2010 (UTC)

aloe as food

I have eaten a pie of this also there is a asian drink with aloe and lemon and tastes great! 92.81.163.41 (talk) 10:10, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

Illegal?

Wasn't Aloe Vera banned in the UK at one time? I'm curious as to what code that was so a reference can be added before making this claim. 75.70.89.124 (talk) 01:01, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

why small × in many species names?

Why, in the infobox, do many species have a small ×? Does this mean "cross species" or something? Is there a reference or location where this is explained to someone not very familiar with botany? - Paul2520 (talk) 22:41, 18 September 2016 (UTC)

@Paul2520: yes, it means that it's a cross or hybrid between other species. See Hybrid name, although it's not a very good article yet. Peter coxhead (talk) 14:52, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

@Peter coxhead: Thank you for answering my question so quickly! - Paul2520 (talk) 02:01, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

What on earth is going on here?

What is Boucerosiaa? Has this change been discussed by editors? Darorcilmir (talk) 09:50, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

Type species

Why the type species is not aloe vera? -GogoLion (talk) 06:34, 17 April 2022 (UTC)

See [1].

Linnaeus did not clearly indicate a type for Aloe (not unusual; the type system as understood now developed subsequently). Under these circumstance, other authors can choose a type and hence a type species. Peter coxhead (talk) 16:35, 17 April 2022 (UTC)

It's also the first specific epithet mentioned by Linnaeus: see [2]. Peter coxhead (talk) 16:38, 17 April 2022 (UTC)