Aloe Vera has been long associated with herbal medicine. Although it is not known when its medical applications were first discovered, these species are widely used in the traditional herbal preparations of many countries. The Aloe Vera plant is regarded as a miracle plant because of its numerous curative and healing benefits.
Early records of Aloe Vera usage is shown in the Ebers Papyrus from 16th century BC, in Dioscorides' De Materia Medica and Pliny the Elder's Natural History both written in the mid-first century AD along with the Juliana Anicia Codex produced in 512 AD.
According to a study published in the Indian Journal of Dermatology, in ancient Egypt they calledAloe Vera "that plant of immortality". Cleopatra and Nefertiti, the two queens of Egypt, apparently used Aloe Vera to keep their skin soft. It was also used to treat soldiers' wounds by Christopher Columbus and Alexander the Great.
The Aloe Vera plant is often categorised under the Liliaceae, or Lily family, which comprises of mainly flowering and bulbous plants. At times, they are even listed under the Cactus family. This succulent plant, however, belongs to a different category.
• Recent study by Dr. Tom Reynolds of Jodrell Laboratory at Kew Gardens (the world's largest collection of living plants), revealed Aloaceae is the accurate classification of the Aloe Vera family.
• The Royal Horticultural Society Gardeners' Encyclopaedia of Plants and Flowers also given a precise characterization of the aloe as a "genius of evergreen, rosetted trees, shrubs, perennials and scandent climbers with succulent foliage and tublar to bell-shaped flowers".
• There are approximately 350 varieties of aloe in the Aloaceae family, all of which differ significantly in size, shape and colour, which define the plant perfectly.
• In South Africa alone, there are about 132 species of Aloe Vera that can be found but the species Aloe Barbadensis Miller is regarded the best of its kind.
• The Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller is highly known for being the most potent, nutritious and beneficial as a healing agent for common skin problems such as burns, bruises, cuts, abrasions, insect bites and other damaged skin tissues.
• It's a phenomenon that have been recounted for thousands years and numerous historical documents show Aloe Vera was used as far back as l,500 B.C. and always referred to as the "Miracle Plant."