ALOE VERA– NUTRACEUTICAL TO PHARMACEUTICAL

Aloe vera has been used for centuries and is presently widely exploited as a nutraceutical. It is available in the form of various health drinks and formulations such as capsules/ tablets or externally in the form of gels & creams. Being a potent immunomodulator, it can be used in various ailments as a single drug or in a combination therapy. The area of formulation research is lacking in understanding the correlation of unique active therapeutic agent acemannan - a glucomannan present in aloe vera and its dose, due to numerous physical, microbiological and biochemical factors interfering in the extraction/ processing of aloe vera juice. Studies are limited and generally becoming complicated because of not having ability to discriminate between different species, since a very few species have a therapeutic effectiveness amongst about 400 species of aloe vera found worldwide. Being sensitive to heat, enzymes and shock, it is a good subject for formulation researchers as there is a concern about aloe products having a little or no aloe in them. The current article is about chemistry of aloe vera in exploring its potential as a mainstay of chronic drug therapy.