Aloe Vera plant / the benefits of aloe Vera for hair and for the face

Aloe Vera plant the benefits of aloe Vera for hair and for the face

The Aloe Vera plant now at our days is a very famous plant that has been known and used for everywhere for decades for its health, beauty, medicinal and skin care properties. The name Aloe Vera derives from the word “Alloeh”in Arabic that means “shining bitter substance”, while “Vera” in Latin means “true”.

Years ago the Egyptians called Aloe Vera “the plant of immortality”; they used aloe Vera plant for treatment of wounds, burnings, and infections for the first time. After them, Greeks, Spanish, and African peoples used aloe Vera plant by various techniques for several purposes. According to classic medicine in Iran, aloe Vera has hot and dry humor and its extract is used for medicinal purpose.

Today, the Aloe Vera plant has been used for different purposes for her amazing benefits.

The botanical name of Aloe Vera is Aloe barbadensis miller. It grows mainly in the dry regions of Africa, Asia, Europe and America. 75 active constituent’s likes vitamins, enzymes, minerals, sugars, lignin, saponins, salicylic acids and amino acids are found on the Aloe Vera.  

The existing mucilage tissue at the center of leaves in this plant that is also called aloe gel is used for various cosmetics and medical applications. The peripheral leaf cells in this plant produce bitterand yellow-color latex that is called aloes

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Chemical constituents

Vitamins

 Like C, E and A knowing as are antioxidants. It also contains vitamin B12 and folic acid.

Enzymes

8 enzymes could be mentioned  aliiase, alkaline phosphatase, amylase, bradykinase, carboxypeptidase, catalase, cellulase, lipase, and peroxidase. Bradykinase helps to reduce excessive inflammation when applied to the skin topically, while others help in the breakdown of sugars and fats.

Minerals

It provides calcium, chromium, copper, selenium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium and zinc.

Sugars

It provides glucose, fructose, glucomannans, polymannose. These are derived from the mucilage layer of the plant. Recently C-glucosyl chromone, has been isolated from Aloe Vera gel is a glycoprotein with anti allergic properties.

Fatty acids

 These fatty acids have anti-inflammatory action, manelly 4 steroids are found on the Aloe Vera; cholesterol, campesterol, β-sisosterol and lupeol.

Amino acids

and it also contains salicylic acid that possesses anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Lignin, an inert substance, when included in topical preparations, enhances penetrative effect of the other ingredients into the skin. Saponins that are the soapy substances form about 3% of the gel and have cleansing and antiseptic properties.

Benefits

Aloe Vera for the skin

Aloe Vera gel has been reported to have a protective effect against radiation damage to the skin. The use of the administration of aloe Vera gel allowed the generation of the skin, due to an antioxidant protein named metallothionein, , which scavenges hydroxyl radicals and prevents suppression of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase in the skin.

Aloe Vera gel helps also to reduce the production and release of skin keratinocyte, and hence prevents UV-induced suppression of delayed type hypersensitivity.

Aloe Vera for hair

Aloe Vera has the incredible ability to increase the blood circulation, so the uses of Aloe Vera on the hair help with slowing down hair loss and hair breakage.

Aloe Vera is a natural Moisturizing

It has effects on the epidermal cells by sticking them together, which softens the skin, stimulates the produce of the collagen and elastin on the skin leading to less wrinkled and elastic skin. And also provides anti-aging effect and helps in binding moisture into the skin.

It also has anti-acne ffect, and in order to tighten pores the zinc acts as an astringent, plus that the presence of the amino acids helps also to soften the skin.

Healing properties

Aloe Vera gel increases the collagen content of the wound, and the degree of collagen cross linking. Due to this, it accelerated wound contraction and increased the breaking strength of resulting scar tissue.

It helps also to increase the synthesis of hyaluronic acid and dermatan sulfate in the granulation tissue of a healing wound following oral or topical treatment.

Anti-inflammatory activities

Aloe gel reduced inflammation via the promotion of prostaglandin synthesis as well as increased infiltration of leukocytes, but was less effective against inflammation caused by agents that produce allergic reactions.

Recently, a novel anti-inflammatory compound called C-glucosyl chromone was isolated from gel extracts.

Antimicrobial proproties

The inner gel of the Aloe Vera against bacteria has been proposed to a have direct antimicrobial activities. The anthraquinones isolated from the exudate of Aloe Vera. These  anthraquinones of Aloe Vera gel are structural analogues of tetracycline and thus they inhibit protein synthesis in bacteria .

Polysaccharides present in Aloe Vera gel stimulate phagocytic leukocytes and destroy bacteria, also it is effective against resistant strains of Helicobacter pylori, and it acts as bactericidal agent against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The processed gel inhibited the growth of fungus, potent anti candida activity against C. albicans, C. parapsilosis and C. krusei, it has also showed antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, and Collettotrichum coccodes.