THE PLANT

Native to southern Africa but distributed in all the countries of the temperate belt, the Aloe Arborescens belongs to the family of Aloaceae. It has a woody stem and in its natural state develops into a multi-headed shrub up to 3-4m high bearing deep red-orange flowers (December-January).
This species is less known than Aloe Vera due to its slow development, which does not allow it to be produced at an industrial level. Its main characteristics are resiliency, concentration and adaptability, thanks to which it has become one of the most important reference points in the ethnic medicine practices of many countries where it is widely used by the poorest layers of the population.
Its high concentration of active principles (about three times higher than Aloe Vera) makes it particularly apt for use in the field of food supplements.
As to its various uses in past and present traditional medicine, there are many accounts recording the symbolic and energetic properties that the populations of the five continents ascribe to this powerful plant. In ancient China it was known as the remedy of harmony; in Ayurvedic medicine it is indicated as a valid aid for the elimination of fungi and parasites considered as an effect of karmic infestation; in the Indian philosophy, where diseases are considered a manifestation of blocked vital energy, it was used as the basis of every therapy for the evolution of the soul.
Some of its most important properties are:

- anti-inflammatory and pain-killing
- anti-oxidant/anti-ageing
- anti-bacterial, antimycotic, anti-viral
- immunomodulating/immunostimulating
- hypoglycaemic
- blood detoxifying
- possible anti-carcinogenic activity.