How Much Do You Know About Aloe Vera?

Why choose professional aloe vera product?
Aloe vera is known for its rich nutrients, but that doesn't mean all of its nutrients can be used for you. In fact, many single nutrients and medicinal ingredients contained in aloe are tiny, and the molecules are extremely active, many ingredients will loss in the processing and failed to achieve the desired effect if not separated and extracted under high-tech conditions. Therefore, the best method is to use targeted aloe vera products produced by large manufacturers according to their own situation.
How to evaluate the aloe vera content in aloe products?
Many aloe health products or cosmetics companies on the market are claiming that their aloe vera content is 100% or 90%-99%, actually the internationally accepted standard is that the content of aloe vera cosmetics should not be lower than 20% and 100% aloe vera is impossible cause a certain amount of stable ingredients and flavors and other additional ingredients must be added in hair care products and cosmetics. Aloe vera is still a new industry in China and there is no unified industry standards at present. Therefore, when choosing aloe products, it is best to choose large enterprises with industrial production strength and has an international certification mark to purchase.
How to identify if the aloe vera can be used for you?
There are hundreds of varieties of aloe, but only a few have nutritional and medicinal values, namely, Aloe barbadensis miller, aloe ferox Mill., Yuanjiang aloe, and Aloe chinensis Berger., etc. We sometimes take tequila, Gasteria spp., Haworthia fasciata as aloe vera, but actually they are free of any nutritional and medicinal ingredients. Quality of aloe vera can be identified by breaking one fresh leaf off, it is good if there’re many mucus filament. And if there’s little or no filament, and much water, it is most likely to be produced by chemical fertilizers, and the effective nutrient compositions are limited.
What problems should we notice when using fresh aloe vera leaves?
The use of fresh aloe vera leaves consists of two parts: external and internal use.
For external use, if it's for beauty, it is best to remove the aloe skin and soak the aloe meat in water for three to five minutes. It is important to note that smearing should not be too much, and  wash the skin after several times smear, because aloe vera gel and mucin will form a film on the face after dried, which will reduce the skin's metabolic function and skin pores breathing.
When taken orally, it is best to take skin, because the outer skin of aloe fresh leaves are rich in anti-inflammatory, bactericidal and detoxifying substances. However, if it is people who often have stomach problems, it is better to remove the skin before eating, because the emodin in the skin of aloe has the effect of stomach diarrhea.  
What are the active ingredients of aloe vera?
The composition of aloe vera is very complex, so far it has been found to contain more than 160 ingredients like aloin, aloe polysaccharides and many other unknown ingredients. The medicinal components of aloe can be divided into several kinds as below:
1.1 Phenolic substances
Such as: aloe emodin, aloin, aloenin and so on. Aloin potently relives pain; aloe emodin and its aloin can improve appetite and slow release of large intestine.
1.2 Flavonoids
Such as: rutin, quercetin, etc. Rutin has anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects. quercetin has good expectorant and antitussive effects, and has a certain antiasthmatic effect, also can lower blood pressure, strengthen the capillary resistance, reduce capillary fragility, reduce blood fat, and expand coronary blood flow and so on. 
1.3 Polysaccarides
The glucose, mannose and polysaccharides existed in aloe vera can enhance human immunity and strongly inhibit or destroy the growth of abnormal cells, thereby having anti-cancer effects; has excellent repair of gastric mucosa and duodenal ulcers, and has an adjuvant therapeutic effect on diabetes, hepatitis, and cirrhosis.
1.4 Amino acids
After study confirmed that aloe is rich in amino acids: aspartic acid, arginine, cystine, valine, leucine, tryptophan, methionine, histidine, proline, etc.
1.5 Various minerals and trace elements
Various minerals including boron, copper, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, magnesium, calcium, sodium, aluminum, iron, phosphorus, barium, silver, selenium, germanium were detected in aloe vera. Among them, selenium, germanium and so on are precious trace elements of human body.
1.6 Vitamins
Aloe vera contains a variety of vitamins, such as vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, and conjugates formed by vitamins and organic compounds.
1.7 Organic acids
There are a variety of organic acids in aloe: malic acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, caprylic acid, heptenedicarboxylic acid, lauric acid, dodecanoic acid, tridecanoic acid,isocitric acid, myristic acid, pentadecanoic acid, heptadecanoic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid and palmitic acid, etc. Isocitrate calcium can strengthen the heart, promote blood circulation, soften hardened arteries, lower cholesterol to dilate capillaries and increase bone density.
What are the medicinal effects of aloe vera?
1. In the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (2000 edition)
Properties, taste & classes: bitter, cold. Belong to liver, stomach, large intestine.
Function and main treatment: clear liver heat, purge. Used for constipation, infantile malnutrition; stunned, and external treatment of psoriasis dampness.
2. In "Compendium of Materia Medica"
Properties & taste: bitter, cold, non - toxic.
Main treatment: for hot wind bored, chest distress, protecting eyesight and heart, children with epilepsy, treatment of hemorrhoid disease ulcer fistula and detoxification.
3. In "Chinese Materia Medica"
The health care functions of aloe are summarized in "Chinese Materia Medica" (a collection of Chinese herbal medicine) as follows: (1) venting, ie laxative; (2) regulating human immunity; (3) anti-tumor; (4) protecting liver; (5) resisting stomach damage; (6) antibacterial; (7) repair of tissue damage; (8) protection of the skin.
What is the aloe whole leaf products and aloe gel products? What's the difference?
Aloe vera gel - The transparent, viscous, gelatinous substance obtained by removing the fresh leaves of aloe vera, which is as safe as fruits and vegetables. Aloe vera gel products are processed and extracted from aloe gel and are rich in active ingredients such as aloe polysaccharides, and contains no or little phenolic substances and flavonoids. The aloe vera leaf products are made from aloe whole leaf which contain all components of aloe and are dark in color and taste bitter. The main difference between them is that aloe gel products do not contain or contain little phenolic substances, flavonoids with light color, while aloe vera whole leaf products contain all the components of aloe with deep color and bitter taste.
 What is membrane technology?
Membrane technology is an emerging high-tech cross-disciplinary process, involved in the process of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transfer and chemical kinetics, and process design, mainly belong to the category of chemical engineering research. The energy that the material chooses to pass through the membrane is mainly: one is the material flows from low position to high position with the help of external energy; the other is the chemical dislocation as the driving force, the substance flows from the high to the low. Membrane separation process is usually an efficient separation process, usually with low energy consumption, and membrane separation device itself has no moving parts, so it is high reliable, another outstanding characteristic is the separation temperature at room temperature and mild conditions, which can fully preserve the  activity of material. It is widely used in bio-pharmaceuticals, environmental protection and other industries.
In what products are the ingredients added? How much to add? Precautions?

What are the differences and advantages between membrane concentration technology and other concentration technologies?
Membrane separation and concentration technology utilizes driving forces (such as pressure difference, concentration difference, and potential difference) to selectively permeate the membrane as a separation medium, so that components in the separated material are selectively permeated through the membrane to achieve the chemical unit of concentration, separation, and purification.
Membrane separation process is an efficient separation process with low energy consumption, and the equipment itself has no moving parts. The working temperature is near room temperature and the reliability is high. And separation process such as evaporation, distillation, freeze concentration are generally accompanied by a change from liquid to gas, evaporation, distillation concentration, and other general separation process is accompanied by prolonged heating, and the physiologic activity of the separated components is irreversibly lost. Freeze concentration drying energy consumption is very high which will cause the high operation cost; extraction, adsorption and other separation processes are complex and accompanied by the use of organic solvents which is easy to produce solvent residue; while membrane separation, completed at room temperature to ensure no loss of physiologically active substances with simple process, extremely low energy consumption and no residual organic solvents.
How much is the daily dose of aloe vera extract?
It often varies from person to person. Different people have different needs for their physical condition, eating habits and etiology. Generally in the formulation, it is no more than 3 times feces per day after taking as a normal adult as the reference dosage, aloe vera whole leaf freeze-dried powder is about 0.5 ~ 0.8g per day; and aloe vera gel freeze-drying powder is about 0.3-0.5 g for cosmetics products.
What is the difference between "aloe vera" and our “aloe vera industrial raw material” in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2000 edition)?
“Aloe vera”in the“Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China” (2000 edition)  refers to the use of Aloe barbadensis miller or Aloe ferox Mill. from Africa, used to be called "old" aloe with black color, hard. It looks like coke with thick skin but no meat (gel), but contains high aloe emodin. The locals cut it off, let the yellow juice out and dry naturally. It contains little or no aloe polysaccharides but more aloe emodin with special odor, bitter taste and poor solubility; and aloin content is generally 18% or more.
However, aloe vera produced in China, the United States, Japan, etc. is rich in aloe vera gel but low in aloe emodin. Generally, no more than 0.01% aloe emodin of fresh leaves are available.
Our industrial raw materials are high-tech products that have been separated, concentrated, and freeze-dried through membrane technology. The process preserves the physiologically active ingredients of aloe and is safe to use and has significant efficacy.
What are the causes of aloe allergy? What are the symptoms? Is it related to age? How to deal with allergies?
Allergy is an immunological disease. Some people are allergic to various substances, such as fish, beef, pollen and penicillin.
If allergic to aloe vera when using, it will cause erythema or pruritus in the whole body or local areas and some people will have the blisters and swelling also.
Aloe vera allergy has nothing to do with age or sex, just varies from person to person.
General symptoms of aloe vera allergy are mild and can be stopped. If there are serious cases, they should be treated in hospital as soon as possible and there are no reports of life-threatening injuries until now.
What kinds of traditional Chinese medicine and chemical medicine cannot be used together with aloe products?
No, but it is recommended that aloe vera whole leaf products should not be used with antiseptics.
Which one is better to add in drinks? Aloe whole leaf juice or aloe gel juice?
Drink don’t control the quantity, while aloin contained in the whole leaf juice will cause diarrhoea is overdosed, it is difficult to easy to control so it is better to add aloe gel juice instead of aloe whole leaf juice. However, whole leaf juice can be used as a health drink ingredient.
Which kind of aloe vera industrial raw material is better for cosmetics?
Because aloe vera has the functions of nourishing dry skin, eliminating blemishes and acne, removing wrinkles, restoring skin elasticity, repairing damaged tissue, removing chloasma etc, so and widely used in cosmetics, so it is particularly important to add correct aloe industrial raw materials in cosmetics..
General skin care products use gel products, mainly for its light color, and aloe polysaccharides and vitamin int gel products are good for human body skin nourishing, whitening and acne-eliminating, and so on.
Aloe whole leaf products often added in washing products. It has deep color and except for aloe polysaccharides, it also contains anthraquinone glycosides substances like aloe emodin which has the functions of hair softening and shining, antipruritic, smoothing skin, antiseptic and antiphlogistic.
What kind of person can not use aloe vera? Can children use it?
For children with a weak constitution, do not take excessive aloe vera whole-leaf products, but gel products can be taken as needed; pregnant women and menstrual women are absolutely prohibited to take aloe vera leaf products, while gel products can be taken as needed; in the case of hemorrhage and nose bleeding in some patients, aloe vera should be stopped; children can eat aloe vera gel products as needed and small amount of aloe vera whole-leaf products.
Will aloe vera products added into cosmetics affect its stability? Why?
There are many factors that affect the stability of cosmetics, each additional substance will affect the stability of the product. As long as it is a professional, a stable product can be obtained through several adjustment tests on the formulation, such as adjusting the type and amount of emulsifier.
There are many cosmetics containing aloe products on the market, how to recognize it really contains aloe vera?
Whole leaf products can be identified by simple chemical methods, while gel products are relatively difficult to identify, but the characteristic "E" peak can be identified by using high performance liquid chromatography, while it is costly.
For ordinary consumers, brand awareness should be enhanced and formal manufacturers should be selected. Only legal manufacturers can produce truly qualified products. For manufacturers, avoid to purchase materials from the middleman as far as possible, best to purchase directly from the raw material manufacturer and test the content of aloe vera functional ingredients.