Admin
Admin
Number of posts : 4171
Age : 66
Location : Texas
Registration date : 2008-10-24
 | | Subject: Aloe Vera Plant Mon Nov 24, 2008 5:17 pm | |
| The AloeVera Plant | A succulent desert plant from North Africa, called aloe vera by herbalists and Aloe barbadensis by botanists, has become a popular house plant and a living medicine repository for skin burns, insect bites, sunburn, rashes, and minor wounds. Just clip off a fat aloe leaf near its tip, then squeeze the yellowish inner gel onto the injury. The gel hardens into an airtight, natural bandage, instantly beginning the healing process. |
Aloe vera heals by virtue of complex organic chemical compounds. The plant's living tissues produce an arsenal of healing substances, most importantly complex sugars called mucopolysaccharides (MPS) that compose the internal gel. The gel quickly hardens and seals when exposed to air. The MPS reduce inflammation, act as antibacterials, and dilate the capillaries in the treated spot, increasing blood flow to the injury. The plant tissues load the gel with other curative substances like salicylic acid (the active ingredient in aspirin), sulfur compounds, and enzymes that act as anti-inflammatories. The gel also contains vitamins C and E, which have healing properties and growth factors that stimulate the immune system.
So what's a first aid kit, complete with instant band-aids, doing in a plant? The substances are there for the same reason we find them useful. Should something damage the plant, say, an animal trying to bite into a leaf, the gel immediately fills the wounds and quickly hardens into protective barriers. The medicinals within the gel fight any bacteria, fungi, or viruses that may have invaded through the plant's open wounds, similar to the way they do in the human body. |
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