Document Type

Oral Presentation

Location

Oxford Convention Center, 102 Ed Perry Boulevard Oxford, MS 38655

Event Website

https://oxfordicsb.org/

Start Date

15-4-2024 1:00 PM

End Date

15-4-2024 1:30 PM

Description

The recorded history of aloes dates back thousands of years, with early recordings in the Papyrus Ebers (ca. 1550 B.C.) and in Dioscorides’s Herbal (1st cent. A.D.). Aloe has been used as a two-in-one medicine, not only by early explorers but also as a material of strategic military importance, with the yellow juice effective against the stomach problems of an army on the march and the white juice (gel) used to treat the wounds of battle. Aloe vera is the correct name for the “true aloe”, as the specific epithet “vera” indicates. The origins of the plant are shrouded in mystery, but the species (probably a cultigen) is thought to be endemic to the Hajar Mountains of Northern Oman, from where it was dispersed to many parts of the Old World (and later via Portugal and Spain to the New World). It became so firmly established in the New World that many people are under the impression that Barbados aloes or Curaçao aloes are native to the Caribbean. There are many uncertainties and inaccuracies associated with the famous Aloe vera. This includes its history, correct name, traditional uses, efficacy, and aspects of modern-day commercial marketing.

Comments

Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Publication Date

April 2024

Share

COinS
 
Apr 15th, 1:00 PM Apr 15th, 1:30 PM

The true history of aloes and beyond

Oxford Convention Center, 102 Ed Perry Boulevard Oxford, MS 38655

The recorded history of aloes dates back thousands of years, with early recordings in the Papyrus Ebers (ca. 1550 B.C.) and in Dioscorides’s Herbal (1st cent. A.D.). Aloe has been used as a two-in-one medicine, not only by early explorers but also as a material of strategic military importance, with the yellow juice effective against the stomach problems of an army on the march and the white juice (gel) used to treat the wounds of battle. Aloe vera is the correct name for the “true aloe”, as the specific epithet “vera” indicates. The origins of the plant are shrouded in mystery, but the species (probably a cultigen) is thought to be endemic to the Hajar Mountains of Northern Oman, from where it was dispersed to many parts of the Old World (and later via Portugal and Spain to the New World). It became so firmly established in the New World that many people are under the impression that Barbados aloes or Curaçao aloes are native to the Caribbean. There are many uncertainties and inaccuracies associated with the famous Aloe vera. This includes its history, correct name, traditional uses, efficacy, and aspects of modern-day commercial marketing.

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/icsb/2024_ICSB/Schedule/1