Aloe Vera

Diploma Agricultural Engineering

Semester Three Session 2012/2013

Crop Processing Technology EAB 2501

Lecturers Name: Cik Khairunnisa binti Mokhtar Prepared by: Lim Voon Huey (S16528) Nor Liyana binti Yusof (S16525)

Aloe Vera

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Introduction of Aloe Vera Aloe Vera is one of 250 species from aloe plant in the world. Aloe Vera is a species that

probably originated from northern Africa. It is either stemless or has very short-stemmed succulent plant that growing to 60-100 cm tall. This plant has thick and fleshy leaves, green to grey-green colour and with some white flecks on the upper and lower stem surfaces. Aloe Vera plant also has the serrated leaves and has small white teeth. Like other Aloe species, this Aloe Vera forms arbuscular mycorrhiza, a symbiosis that allows the plant access better to mineral nutrients in soil. According to the early history, in the year 1500 BC Egyptian Ebers Papyrus had show that Aloe Vera leaf were blend together, mixed with other medical components and net were boiled, and then being used in 12 medical formula, for use internally and externally. This species is used widely in the traditional herbal medicine of China, Japan, Russia, South Africa, the United States, Jamaica, Latin America and India. Besides being called as herbal plants, this tree has been known as "silent healer" by the Hinduism and 'harmonic ingredient by ancient Chinese medical specialist.

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Besides that, Aloe Vera is widely used in the cosmetics and alternatives medicines industries. It is also known as herbal plants that can relieve pain, rash, fever, and itching skin because it contains about 75 types of nutrients including enzyme that help digestion and reduce inflammation, all types of vitamins except vitamin D, minerals that are necessary for enzyme function, long-chain sugar to balance the return of the digestive system, and 20 of 22 types of amino acids. Aloe Vera plant is unique and has its own specialties because it can trap and store water in their hard leaves with a thick skin. The accumulated water then will be changed to form a gel. These gels are used and medicinal properties to humans. Nowadays, the gel is used as main ingredient in lotion, beauty product, yogurt, and dessert.

Formerly, Aloe Vera is not only being used as a beauty product but has been commercialized as a healthy drink. It is suitable for people that are busy with their hectic lifestyle. Therefore, the Aloe Vera now has expanded their products to juice drinks to help provide good nutrition to the body in terms of internal and external aspects of the body.

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Benefits of Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera juice itself gives various benefits; the most notable one is promoting the rates of healing. Scientists have proven that by drinking Aloe Vera, it can treat the wound effectively and in a shorter period. In addition, the vitamins, minerals, and other elements present in Aloe Vera juice will help consumer to remove harmful elements in the body. Other than that, Aloe Vera juice can help to solve the problem of stomachache. The acidity of stomach can be neutralized by drinking 50 ml of Aloe Vera juice three times a day. Next, it can regulate weight and energy levels. Drinking Aloe Vera juice allows body to clean the digestive system. This aloe Vera juice ensures a greater feeling of well-being, allowing energy levels to increase and helps maintain a healthy body weight. Other than that, drinking Aloe Vera juice can increase the amount of amino acids that require by body. About 20 amino acids were required by the human body to build protein; eight of these amino acids are essential which our body cannot produce them itself. Besides that, aloe Vera juice can reduce the amount of blood sugar in body. The pancreas produces insulin that signals the body to utilized blood sugar in energy production. The unutilized sugar is very dangerous to have in the body and can induce fatigue, confusion, and irritability. By drinking Aloe Vera juice, it helps the pancreas to control the insulin production to utilized blood sugar. Other than that, Aloe Vera juice contains 12 substances that can slow down or inhibit the inflammation without any side-effects. The other significant health benefit of Aloe Vera juice is it helps to increase the production of white blood cells. It can help body to defend itself from the bacteria and viruses besides it inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Next, Aloe Vera juice can be help in detoxification. Aloe Vera juice is highly effective as an internal body cleanser. It detoxifies unhealthy cell matter in the stomach, kidneys, liver, and bladder.

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The procedure to process the inner gel of Aloe Vera a. Choosing the Aloe Vera

Only fully mature Organic certified Aloe Vera leaves are picked. b. Loosening the dirt The leaves will be soak inside a soaking tank to allow the dirt to be removed from the leaf naturally. c. Washing station

Each individual leaf will be washed using De Mineralized water either by an aloe leaf washing machine or hand washing station. d. Sanitizing rinse All the leaves are sterilized by sanitizing rinse. e. Trimming The aloe leave will be trimmed to remove the ends and sides. Firstly, cut the top layer, then the sides and eventually the bottom to prevent the yellow stuff that comes out near the outer skin.

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f. Filleting

The Aloe Vera leaves will be filleted to remove the gel.

g. Grinding Grinding of Aloe Vera is to liquefy the gel. h. Pulp separation Cellulose pulp is removed. i. Stabilization Aloe gel will be soaked in a food grade sanitizer that will reduce microbial levels to achieve microbial protection. j. Charcoal Decolourization Charcoal will remove the colour and odour. k. Filtration Charcoal that is added previously will be removed. l. HTST or Vat pasteurization For final bacterial stabilization, biological activity remains essentially intact by High Temperature Short Time (HTST) pasteurization. Higher temperatures or extending the period of time will greatly reduce the quality of Aloe Vera.

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m. Concentration Product that has undergone sanitation and pasteurization methods can be concentrated under vacuum without the loss of quality. The temperature throughout the process has to be below 50 Celsius with continuous flow. n. Addition of preservatives Sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate are added to inhibit the growth and survival of microorganisms that cause food spoilage and extend the shelf life of the product. o. Juice is cooled to -0.5 Celsius

p. Storage

Juice is stored in a storage tank.

q. Bottling the product

The product is being packaged under hygienic condition and ready for sell.

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Market Demand Aloe Vera is one of the few medicinal plants that have growing demand in the

international market. The various benefits given by Aloe Vera have increased the demand of Aloe Vera across the globe in the past 10 years. The major markets for Aloe Vera and its extracts or better known as Aloe Veras gel included Australia, United States of America and the entire Europe. Earlier, due to lack of cultivation and the processing methods, the number of supplier in the market was in a small number. For example, India is one of the gifted countries that able to cultivate Aloe Vera. Previously, the country did not derive the potential and exploit such plants. This was mainly due to lack of the knowledge and expert people. Fortunately, better technologies have been invented and allow more corporate businessperson to involve themselves in this field. A recent research has been conducted and it is estimated that more entrepreneurs will invest in this plant due to the rising demand of Aloe Vera. An estimate value of current global trade in this medicinal plant has surpassed US$60 billion. In 2009, the global Aloe Vera market was around 110 billion and registered a yearly growth of 35%. With the increasing interest, the trade is predicted that it will grow up to 5 trillion by the year 2050. Besides that, the global demand has risen exponentially. Most of the countries included Asian countries and Europe countries show high request for finished Aloe Vera products. It is estimated that the trade in for finished products made of aloe ingredients have surpassed $35 billion globally. In these past few years, the demand of Aloe Veras gel and powder in India has increased approximately 10 to 15% per year. Formerly, the price of Premium Aloe Vera powder which has concentration of 200x in India has increased and ranges from $125 to $300. This shows that Aloe Vera has shown global business potential. In addition, numerous companies introduced their new products such as skin care products, hair care products, supplements and so on with aloe Vera ingredients in it. Large companies all over the world such as The Body Shop from United States of America, My Beauty Diaries from Taiwan, and GRACE from Australia have introduced a few types of beauty
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products with aloe Vera ingredients. It is expected in the coming years, more companies will invest in Aloe Vera as the raw materials of their products to counteract the rising demand of Aloe Vera products by consumers.

4.0 Books

References

Aloe Vera: The Natural Healing Choice by Lee Faber Internet http://en.wikipedia.org, Aloe Vera http://www.globalhealingcenter.com, Benefits of Aloe Vera http://agriherbals.com, Aloe Vera Demand http://www.scribd.com, Aloe Vera Research

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