Bioactive compounds and medicinal properties of Aloe vera L.: An update

The practice of using Aloe vera extract as a herbal medicine basically depend on folklore and by experiences of people over a long period of time. Extensive research, especially in the area of basic biochemical characterization and elucidation of bioactivities has been conducted in a systematic manner. This has resulted in the characterization of many biochemical compounds from Aloe vera, predominantly using the techniques of spectroscopy and chromatography. Many biochemical compounds have been characterized from the Aloe vera using spectroscopy and chromatography techniques. Today, In addition to the well documented wound healing properties of Aloe vera extracts in burns, the antioxidant, antimicrobial and antidiabetic activities were tapped and hence formed the central core of bioactivity research on this plant in recent years. There have been preliminary reports on immune modulatory and other functions. The biochemical compounds and their bioactivity mechanisms from Aloe extracts, compounded by the bottlenecks in large scale cultivation represents a fascinating challenge to near complete exploitation and improvements in this pharmacologically important medicinal plant. This review is an effort to update our current knowledge on this plant based on many recent findings and to review the status for further exploration in pharmacology.