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.
Recommended Citation
Wyk, Ben-Erik Van, "The true history of aloes and beyond" (2024). Oxford ICSB. 1.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/icsb/2024_ICSB/Schedule/1
Publication Date
April 2024
Included in
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
Comments
Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa.