ABSTRACT

Common names: aloe, aloe vera, Barbados aloe, Cape aloe, Curaçao aloe, Zanzibar aloe, kumari (Sanskrit name), lu hui (Chinese name).

Aloe, a member of the lily (Liliaceae) family (Figure 2.1), has been used medicinally for thousands of years. Of the several hundred species, Aloe vera is the most extensively used topically. Other species such as Aloe barbadensis (Curaçao aloe) and Aloe capensis (Cape aloe) are more frequently used internally.