Aloe Vera – inside the leaf

Aloe Vera gel contains at least 75 known ingredients and maybe many more which can be divided into the following groups:

Vitamins – it contains a wide range, but the most important ones are the antioxidant Vitamins C and E and Beta-Carotene, the precursor of Vitamin A. It is also one of the few plants in the world to contain Vitamin B12.

Minerals – these include magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, chromium, calcium, sodium, potassium and iron.

Amino Acids – the human body requires 20 amino acids, the building blocks of proteins and Aloe Vera gel provides 19 of them. More importantly, it provides seven of the eight essential amino acids that cannot be manufactured by the body and which therefore have to be consumed as food.

Sugars – these include the important long chain polysaccharides, which act on the immune system to boost its effects.

Enzymes – lipases and proteases, which break down food and aid digestion as well as a carboxypeptidase that is involved in the inflammatory process.

Plant Sterols – the three main types act as powerful anti-inflammatory agents.

Saponins – these are soapy substances that exert a powerful anti-microbial effect against bacteria, viruses, fungi and yeasts such as candida or ‘thrush'.

Lignin – this woody substance bestows on Aloe Vera its penetrative ability to reach deep into the skin.

Anthraquinones – the most important ones being aloin and emodin, but altogether they are strong painkillers and are acknowledged to possess anti-bacterial and viricidal activity. In their pure form they are very powerful laxatives.

Salicylic Acid – this aspirin-like compound is anti-inflammatory and topically helps to break down dead tissue.