The use of aloe vera in herbal medicine has a history of over 5000 years. All civilisations without exception have used the plant as a therapeutic remedy. Aloe vera appears in Chinese and Sumerian writings around 3000 B.C. In the time of the pharaohs the Egyptians idealised aloe vera and called it “the plant of immortality”. It can be found written on papyrus describing the anti-inflammatory and pain relieving effects. It was named by the pharaoh as the “elixir of eternal life”. It is said that Cleopatra used aloe vera on a daily basis.
In Arabic culture, aloe vera has been known since ancient times as the “flower of the desert”. Arabic people were the first to sell aloe vera in the Middle East. Its medicinal value has been also appreciated in places such as India, China and Malaysia. In the Greco-Roman era, illustrious physicians such as Aristotle, Hippocrates and Dioscorides, among others, already emphasized their valuable properties to heal wounds, boils, eye conditions, care for the skin, prevent hair loss or alleviate genital ulcers. It is said that Aristotle persuaded Alexander the Great to invade the island of Socotra for his plantations of aloe, which would allow the healing of his warriors.
Aloe Vera is composed of 95% water and 5% solid components.
It contains more than 200 nutrients essential to the human organism. Of these, 75 are valuable active principles currently used in pharmacology, cosmetics and medicine. The plant of Aloe vera contains, in a perfect equilibrium: