GREEN AND RED ALOEVERA PLANTATION & PROCESSING

Aloe leaves are used for medicinal and cosmetic uses. In India, it is grown commercially for its high demand in cosmetic industries as well as in Indian System of Medicines. The succulent leaves are economic part of this plant. The characteristic bitter aloe juice from leaves is laxatic, stomachic, aphrodisiac, cathartic, emmenagogic, astringent, antidotal, anthelmintic and hepatic stimulant. The gel produced from mature leaves is used in cosmetic industry for preparation of shampoo, face creams and moisturising agents. Aloe gel is also given in fever, enlargement of liver, spleen and other glands, skin diseases, gonorrhoea, constipation, menstrual suppressions, piles, jaundice, rheumatic diseases, and for the treatment of burns and bruises. Aloe barbadensis Mill. Popularly known as aloe, is perennial, shallow rooted and xerophytic plant of 30-60 cm height. The plant has triangular fleshy leaves with serrated edges, yellow tubular flowers, and fruits contain numerous seeds. Each leaf is composed of three layers: An inner clear layer of gel that contains 99% water and rest is made of glucomannans, amino acids, lipids, sterols and vitamins. The middle layer of latex contains bitter yellow sap and anthraquinones and glycosides. The outer thick layer called as rind which has a protective function and synthesizes carbohydrates and proteins. Inside the rind, there are vascular bundles which are responsible for transportation of substances such as water (xylem) and starch (phloem). Flowers vary from yellow to rich orange in colour and arranged in axillary spikes. Flowers have 6 stamens and a trilocular ovary. Most flowers are male or sterile with scarcely fertile pollens. Aloe is originated from warm and dry climate of Africa. However, because of its wide adaptability as well as its importance as medicinal plant, it is well distributed throughout the world. History showed its importance that Egyptian queens Nefertiti and Cleopatra used it as part of their regular beauty package and Alexander the Great and Christopher Columbus used it to treat their soldiers’ wounds. It grows mainly in the dry regions of Africa, Asia, Europe and America. In 16th century it is reached to India and inspired growers for commercial cultivation in many parts of the country due to its multifarious uses as; medicinal plant, vegetable, pickle purposes etc. In India, it is cultivated in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Aloe barbadensis Mill, popularly known as Aloe vera originated in the warm, dry climates of Africa. However, because of its wide adaptability as well as its importance as medicinal plants, it is well distributed. The virtues of the plant have been recorded by many great civilizations, from those of Persia and Egypt in the Middle East, to those of Greece and Italy in Europe, to those of India and the African continent. The plant is widely known in Asia and the Pacific, and is found in the folklore of the Japanese, the Philippines and the Hawaiians. The Spanish used Aloe, and carried it with them to their new world colonies in South America and the Caribbean. In each age, on each continent, in each culture. Aloe vera has drawn the attention of the most sophisticated minds. In India, it is grown commercially for its high demand in cosmetic industries as well as in Indian System of Medicines. The succulent leaves are economic part of this plant. Aloe is know by several names in India such as Ghrit Kumari, Kunvar pathu and Indian Aloe. Its multifarious uses as medicinal plants, vegetables, pickle purposes etc. has inspired growers for commercial cultivation in many parts of the country. The gel produced from its mature leaves is used in cosmetic industry for preparation of shampoo, face creams and moisturizing agents. The characteristic bitter taste of Aloe vera leaves possesses many medicinal properties. The leaves are alterative, stomachic, aphrodisiac, cathartic, emmenagogic, astringent, antidotal, anthelmintic and hepatic stimulant. After removing the skin of leaves, they are given in fevers, enlargement of liver, spleen and other glands, skin diseases, gonorrhoea, constipation, menstrual suppressions, piles, jaundice, rheumatic diseases, and for the treatment of burns and bruises. Aloes have been used therapeutically, certainly since Roman times and perhaps long before , different properties being ascribed to the inner, colourless, leaf gel and to the exudate from the outer layers. During the 12 years since the last major review of Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. gel popular interest and use of the gel have increased dramatically. In this country it is now a familiar ingredient in a range of healthcare and cosmetic products widely available and advertised in shops. The preserved but otherwise untreated gel is also sold as a therapeutic agent in its own right as are various concentrated, diluted and otherwise modified products. Burns and incisions: For testing the efficacy of aloe gel or its various components on inflammation a number of tests have been used, usually in relation to some sort of deliberate wounding. These need to be distinguished from clinical trials where the injuries already exist and are treated more or less systematically by a number of putative therapeutic agents. The earliest experimentation related to skin burns and arose in relation to clinical observations, going back to the 1930s . It was often inconclusive due to inadequate controls and replication and an imprecise correlation of cause and effect. One of the most detailed and accurate of these clinical trials took place in 1957 with use of aloe gel against controlled thermal and radiation burns on rats and rabbits compared with clinical studies on human patients . A different approach was taken whereby the subjects (mice) were fed aloe gel for some time before whole punch wounding and compared with those treated topically after wounding. Both methods produced healing. A further variation was the treatment of punch wounds on mice or rats made diabetic by streptozotocin and therefore more slow to heal. Again healing by aloe gel was demonstrated . A return to wounding by precision burns using a hot metal plate with adequate replication again demonstrated positive healing activity . This technique was further elaborated to produce first, second or third degree burns by precisely timed exposures to the hot metal plate. Two special examples of burns are sunburn and frostbite and these have been used experimentally. Thus, precise UVB burns were produced with a light pen but were unaffected by aloe gel . In a later trial to test the effect of the gel on UV-induced immune suppression a bank of UV lights were used . Frostbite was produced by exposing rabbit ears to ethanol and solid carbon dioxide and was relieved by application of aloe gel. Irritating compounds producing goedema: Experimental production of swelling, caused by fluid accumulation in a tissue (Oedema) initiated by irritating compounds has been used as an inflammatory model with the mouse ear or rat hind paw as subjects. Croton oil, a powerful irritant, was applied to the right ear with the left remaining as control. Inflammation was measured by weighing a tissue punch sample and was shown to decrease after topical application of aloe gel . A subsequent trial demonstrated an even greater decrease when the gel was combined with a corticosteroid . This trial was accompanied by a similar one where mustard as the initiating agent was injected into a rat paw, subsequent swelling being measured volumetrically and fluid withdrawn to determine leucocyte infiltration. In this case aloe gel, with or without steroids was injected previously rather than being applied topically. This study had followed some more or less similar ones, where a variety of irritants, gelatine, albumin, dextran, carrageenan and kaolin had been used and the inflammation successfully treated with aloe gel, orally or topically. Adjuvant arthritis: An important extension of experiments on lesions caused by applied irritants is the deliberate production of a condition resembling arthritis in an animal model, usually rat. This can then be followed by treatment with putative therapeutic agents to suppress either the inflammation or immunologic consequences. The irritating agent used was a suspension of heat-killed Mycobacterium butyricum in mineral oil which produced inflammation directly in the injected paw and also in the other paw by an immunologic pathway. Treatment of inflammation: Inflammation is a tissue reaction by the body to injury and typically follows burns or other skin insults. It is classically characterized by swelling (tumor), pain (dolor), redness (rubor) and heat (calor) as well as loss of function . It is thus a complex process and investigations into the therapeutic properties of the gel should take account of its effects on these various symptoms. In addition, the gel may have more than one active constituent, which may be addressing different parts of the healing process. Failure to take all this into account may be responsible for ambiguities which may have arisen in the past about the efficacy of the gel. Although inflammatory processes are a natural response to injury and may hinder healing it may also be undesirable to suppress them in an unstructured way before their purpose is accomplished. Leucocytes accompanied by fluid accumulate in the damaged tissues producing the swelling, these movements being the result of increased capillary permeability. Pain is a complex reaction following the release of short peptides and prostaglandins. The redness and heat are caused by vasodilatation which reduces blood pressure and increases circulation, although this gradually slows. Inflammation can be either caused, or intensified by invasion with micro-organisms. As well as in wounds, inflammation is involved in conditions such as arthritis. Continuing research into inflammation has shown that it is a complex process involving many biochemical pathways and a variety of agents and mediators. In particular these authors distinguish three components,