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From: larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Aloe, Aloe...
Summary: Chemical constituents of aloe
Message-ID: <4229@kitty.UUCP>
Date: 8 Dec 90 04:59:52 GMT
References: <4198@kitty.UUCP> <59594@microsoft.UUCP> <1990Dec6.223737.20620@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Organization: Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, NY
Lines: 19

In article <1990Dec6.223737.20620@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>, mcdonald@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Doug McDonald) writes:
> >Aloe vera has been used to promote healing for over a thousand years.
> 
> At the risk of being very very wrong, I seem to remember that aloe vera
> juice contains quite a bit of salicylic acid.

	I would not call your answer "very very wrong", but instead would
call it "sort of close". :-)

	Aloe vera contains significant amounts of cinnamic acid, with
other aloe varieties also containing p-coumaric acid.

	The active ingredients for cathartic purposes are glucosides which
readily undergo hydrolysis to form anthraquinone derivatives, such as the
various barbaloins (a/k/a aloin).

Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp.  "Have you hugged your cat today?"
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