Rheology of Aloe barbadensis Miller: A naturally available material of high therapeutic and nutrient value for food applications

Chemical structures, biological activities, and medicinal potentials of amine compounds detected from Aloe species

Unrestricted interest in Aloe species has grown rapidly, and a lot of research is currently being done to learn more about the properties of the various Aloe constituents. Organic compounds containing amine as functional group are present in a vivid variety of compounds, namely, amino acids, hormones, neurotransmitters, DNA, alkaloids, dyes, etc. These compounds have amine functional groups that have various biological activities, which make them responsible for medicinal potential in the form of pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmeceutical applications. Consequently, the present review work provides an indication of the amines investigated in Aloe species and their therapeutic uses. Various amine compounds of the Aloe species have effective biological properties to treat diseases. Generally, the genus Aloe has various active amine-containing compounds to combat diseases when humans use them in various forms.

Physico-mechanical and ex vivo analysis of aloe-alginate hydrogels for cervical cancer treatment

A leading cancer diagnosis in women worldwide is cervical cancer, with current treatments all posing a risk of serious side effects. Less toxic, but effective treatments are sought after. Aloe vera ( barbadensis miller), known for its beneficial properties, has been studied for cancer treatment. While aloe gel has been shown to exhibit anti-cancer activity, it cannot form a hydrogel alone. Therefore, an interpenetrating network comprising alginate blended with aloe was examined as a cervical cancer treatment. We hypothesized the antioxidant properties of aloe gel would decrease cancer cell viability while the alginate hydrogel would improve mucoadhesion. We further hypothesized the antioxidant activity of aloe gel would induce cancer cell death at levels similar to common chemotherapeutics, and aimed to determine if these chemotherapeutic behaviors are constructive or destructive. Material and adhesive properties, drug encapsulation, and cancer cell viability were investigated and validated. The effect of aloe-alginate hydrogels on cervical cancer cell viability was not significantly different compared to aloe-blends containing doxorubicin (DOX), indicating that the aloe alone decreased cancer cell viability rendering the additional cytotoxic therapeutic not impactful as an adjuvant therapy. This study provides insight into the potential of natural biopolymers for treating cervical cancer without systemic toxic compounds.

A comprehensive overview of functional and rheological properties of aloe vera and its application in foods

Aloe vera catches attention of food industry due to its various health benefits like emollient, anti-inflammatory, purgative, anti-microbial, aphrodisiac, antifungal, and antioxidant. Aloe vera gel has excellent functional and nutritional properties and its incorporation into food can increase its functional and nutritional value of the food. However, both the pulp and aloe gel contain a lot of insoluble polymer particles, which affect the rheological behaviour and physical stability mechanisms of the suspensions during storage and processing. While many researchers have explored the application of aloe vera juice in the food products, no literature review of food applications of aloe vera along with their rheological properties have been complied. Hence, the present review aimed to focus on the utilization of aloe vera in the various sectors of food processing and gives insights on the rheological and flow behaviour of aloe vera juice which is a critical parameter for its food application.

High frequency microcloning of Aloe vera and their true-to-type conformity by molecular cytogenetic assessment of two years old field growing regenerated plants

BACKGROUND

Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f is an important industrial crop, which has enormous application in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. Thereby, the demand for quality planting material of A. vera is increasing worldwide. Micropropagation is the widely accepted practical application of plant biotechnology that has gained the status of a multibillion-dollar industry throughout the world and this techniques can be used to meet the industrial demand of A. vera. Present studies aim to develop a proficient methods of high-frequency true-to-type plantlet regeneration without intermediate callus phase for A. vera.

RESULTS

Nodal portion of rhizomatous stem of A. vera were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium (Physiol. Plant. 15:473 - 497, 1962) supplemented with various cytokinin and A. vera leaf gel (AvG) as organic supplement. Number of proliferated shoots per explant was increased along with the regeneration cycles and on MS medium supplemented with 2.5 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine and 10.0% (v/v) AvG, only 17.8 ± 0.35 shoots per explant were induced on 1^st regeneration cycle whereas on 3^rd regeneration cycle these number increase to 38.5 ± 0.44 shoots per explant on the same medium composition. AvG have an encouraging role to increase the proliferation rate and on 3^rd regeneration cycle 27.6 ± 0.53 shoot per explant induced on 2.5 mg/L BAP, but these number increase to 38.5 ± 0.44 shoots per explant when 10.0% (v/v) AvG was added along with 2.5 mg/L BAP. After transfer of individual excised shoots to a one-third strength MS medium containing 20.0% (v/v) AvG, all the shoots formed whole plantlets with maximum number (9.6 ± 0.29) of roots per shoot. 95.0% of the regenerated plantlets survived on poly-green house. Normal flower appeared in 84.2% field growing micropropagated plants after 18 to 20 months of field transfer. Further, clonal fidelity of the two years old micropropagated plants was established by studying mitotic and meiotic chromosomal behavior and also considered the chromosome number and structural organization. There were no alterations in chromosome phenotypes, somatic haploid (pollen mitosis) and diploid chromosome count (n = 7; 2n = 14), or meiotic behavior. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analyses revealed there were no somaclonal variations among these regenerants.

CONCLUSIONS

These results confirm the very reliable method for large scale production of true-to-type plantlets of A. vera, which can be used for commercial purpose.