The contributor
of the day is an object that is small in stature and, green in color. You can
buy it in stores such as Home Depot and Lowes. However, when you look at it
around your home you most likely won’t stand there and say, “So this is what
has my skin so soft.” So may I present the contributor of the day, Aloe
Vera (A.barbadensis L.), a small plant of many uses. One of Mother Nature’s
most famous plants, that I personally use the most out of any other in my life
and maybe yours too. Aloe Vera is a plant that has been used for over thousands
of years.
Aloe Vera is grown in warm climates, which is
why it makes sense that most of the species of Aloe are native to Africa (Chopra,
576). Early records record uses of aloe as medicine for skin and other
disorders in the ancient times (Iqubal, M. Khan, Z. Khan, 1). The earliest pharmaceutical
use of Aloe Vera recorded was in ancient Sumeria 1750 B.C (Chopra, 575). Early
Egyptians referred to this plant as, “the plant of immortality,” because of its
many health healing abilities. The use of Aloe Vera today has become both
cosmetic and medical. In this day and age we have found a way to turn Aloe Vera
into gel. In this state the plant can be used on burns and ulcers.
Aloe Vera is
widely known for its uses on the skin. Why is Aloe Vera so useful on the skin
you may ask? Aloe Vera has properties that allows rapid healing of the
epithelial tissue (Iqubal, M. Khan, Z. Khan, 1). As I was searching for the
history and uses of the Aloe Vera plant I come across a wellness site where a
woman posted a list of forty
uses of Aloe Vera. To see this list will take your breath away because I
for one could only name at the most three uses of Aloe Vera and the first one
would obviously be the fact that it is in lotion. Aloe Vera has had such a positive impact in
the advancement of medicine. When first used by the ancient Sumerians it was
used to relieve stomach aches and nausea, then as time progressed it was used
as ointment on burn wounds.
Now Aloe
Vera is not only being used in medical field but now in cosmetology, because of
this discovery there came my love of lotion and other skin products. Though
this is a very help and giving plant we as human can cause it to harm us. As we
have power plants and factories and etc. we contaminate the soil in which the
plant gathers nutrients. If the plant takes in too much pollution and in turn
is used for medicine in a human the beneficial nutrients become toxic to us.
With that knowledge to keep the Aloe Vera plant around we must take care of the
plants soil home so that in the future when we need the plant it will be able
to treat us instead of poison us.
A.
K. Chopra, et al. "Concentration Of The Heavy Metals In Aloe Vera L. (Aloe
Barbadensis Miller) Leaves Collected From Different Geographical Locations Of
India." Annals Of Biological Research 2.6 (2011): 575-579. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.
IQBAL,
SABA, M. MASROOR A. KHAN, and ZEBA H. KHAN. "Combined Application Of Tria
And Potassium Stimulates The Gel Content, Morphological And Biochemical
Characteristics Of Aloe Vera." Golden Research Thoughts 2.6 (2012):
1-6. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.
This is an easily accessible post, and you talk about a plant that is in many of the skin-care products we buy. I have specifically seen it in suntan burn gel.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see a bit more in the last paragraph, when you discuss pollution. Pollution from? Is it grown now in the United States? How is the plant toxic if used in medicine? How can one take care of its soil? What's the pH needed, for example?