What is Aloe Vera?

Aloe vera is a stemless or very short-stemmed succulent plant growing to 60–100 cm  tall spreading by offsets. The leaves are thick and fleshy, green to grey-green, with some varieties showing white flecks on the upper and lower stem surfaces. The margin of the leaf is serrated and has small white teeth. The flowers are produced in summer on a spike up to 90 cm tall, each flower pendulous, with a yellow tubular corolla 2–3 cm long. Like other Aloe species, Aloe vera forms arbuscular mycorrhiza, a symbiosis that allows the plant better access to mineral nutrients in soil.
 
Aloe vera is now widely used on facial tissues, where it is promoted as a moisturiser and/or anti-irritant to reduce chafing of the nose of users suffering hay-fever or cold. It has also been suggested that biofuels could be obtained from Aloe vera seeds. It can also be used to retwist dreadlocked hair, a favourite agent for vegans and those preferring natural products. Aloe vera is also used for soothing the skin, and keeping the skin moist to help avoid flaky scalp and skin in harsh and dry weather. Aloe vera may also be used as a moisturizer for oily skin.

Medical properties

Scientific evidence for the cosmetic and  alternative medicine industries regularly make claims regarding the soothing, moisturising, and healing properties of aloe vera. Aloe vera gel is used as an ingredient in commercially available lotions, yogurt, beverages, and some desserts.
 
Aloe vera juice is used for consumption and relief of digestive issues such as heartburn and irritable bowel syndrome. The extracts and quantities typically used for these purposes appear to be free from any serious toxicity. It is common practice for cosmetic companies to add sap or other derivatives from Aloe vera to products such as makeup, tissues, moisturizers, soaps, sunscreens, incense, shaving cream, and shampoos. Other uses for extracts of aloe vera include the dilution of semen for the artificial fertilisation of sheep, use as fresh food preservative, and use in water conservation in small farms. The supposed therapeutic uses of Aloe vera are not exclusive to the species and may be found to a lesser or greater degree in the gels of all aloes, and indeed are shared with large numbers of plants belonging to the family Asphodelaceae. 

Aloe vera may be effective in treatment of wounds. Evidence on the effects of its sap on wound healing, however, is limited and contradictory. Some studies, for example, show that aloe vera promotes the rates of healing, while, in contrast, other studies show that wounds to which aloe vera gel was applied were significantly slower to heal than those treated with conventional medical preparations.
 
A more recent review (2007) concludes that the cumulative evidence supports the use of aloe vera for the healing of first to second degree burns.

“We make it our mission to provide aloe vera in its most naturally nutritious form.”

by Henry Chen, president of ALO Drink

Reference : Wikipedia