Liliaceae

Key characteristics of family Liliaceae:
Widely distributed family of about 250 genera and
3700 species.
Liliaceae are monocotyledon and mostly perennial
herbs with rhizomes or bulbs
Leaves are thick, fleshy, long & thin parallel, perennial
 Flowers are racemose solitary with 6 petals, 6
stamens, superior ovary with numerous ovules.
Fruit is capsule or berry.
Many members of the family contain alkaloids. Some
volatile oils of the family have antimicrobial properties

ALOE
Botanical Name: Aloe vera
Synonyms: Aloe barabadensis, A. indica, A. flava pers
Common Name: Aloe, Ghrita Kumari (Sanskrit), Gheu
Kumari (Nepali),
Parts used: Leaves

Key Characteristics of Aloe:
 Stemless succulent plant growing to 60-100 cm.
Margin of leaf are serrated and has small white teeth
and leaves are fleshy, thick, green.

Classification of Aloe
Kingdom: Plantae
Sub Kingdom: Angiosperm
Division: Monocotyledon
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Aloe
Species: A. vera

Habit, Habitat and Distribution:
o Aloe vera plants are xerophytic plants relatively grown in
warm and dry climates.
o Aloe are cosmopolitan in distribution; they grow in many
parts of the world.
o They can grow to height up to 3-5m.
o They grow well in drained, sandy, slightly acidic soil on
steepy rock.
o Aloe vera is usually found in tropical and sub-tropical zone
in an altitude up to 1000m-2000m.

Morphological Characteristics:
1. Plants of Aloe vera:
• Contains very short, hard, visible fibrous stem.
• Covered with dense leaves and partially buried in
soil.

Fig: Morphological Parts of Aloe Vera

2. Leaf:
 Leaves are thick, long, parallel, fleshy, grayish green
color.
 Contains waxy coating on the surface, equity succulent,
sap or mucus dominate.
 Yong leaves are sapling spots pale green to white.
Patches loss as they grow up (matured)
 Matured leaves contains tiny teeth like margin.

3. Flower:
 Trumpet shaped flower or small tube 2-3 cm long.
 Flowers are yellow orange in color composed of little
dangling end of shaft encircling the towering up over
about 50-100 cm.

4. Root:
 Has very short root system.
 Contains fibrous root.
 Can reach up to 30-40 cm in length.

Anatomy:
The plant has triangular leaves with serrated edge, yellow,
tubular, flower and fruits contains numerous seed. Each leaf
is composed of three layers....
① Inner clear gel contains 95% water and rest is made up of
amino acids, lipids sterols, glucomannans and vitamins.
② Middle layer of latex is bitter yellow sap which contains
Anthraquionens and glycosides.
③ Outer layer of 15-20 cells called as rind which has
protective functions and synthesize carbohydrate and
proteins. Inside rinds are useful for transportation of water
(xylem) and starch (phloem)

Transverse section near
the margin of an Aloe
leaf.
Layers of Aloe Vera Leaf

Important chemical constituents
or active compounds:
Aloe vera contains 75 potentially active
constituents among them some are
discussed as;

1. Vitamin: Contains vitamin A (β carotene) C and E
which are anti oxidant.

2. Enzyme: Contains 8 enzymes i.e. aliizye, alkaline
phosphate, amylase bradykinase, carboxypeptidase, catalase,
cellulose, lipase and peroxidase.
3. Minerals: Provides calcium, chromium, copper,
magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc.
4. Sugar: Provides mono saccharides (Glucose & Fructose) &
polysaccharides is glucomannans.
5. Anthraquionens: Phenolic in component traditionally
known as laxative.
6. Fatty acids: Steroids, cholesterols, campesterol, β-
sisosterol & lupeol are used as anti-septic action.
7. Hormone: Auxin & gibberellins are found. Helps in
wound healing and anti inflammatory agent.

Medicinal uses and Pharmaceutical Activities:
i. Vitamins like A, C, E are found in aloe and acts as
anti-oxidants.
ii. Enzymes (carboxypeptidase, catalase cellulose,
lipase) helps to reduce excessive inflammation when
applied to skin.
iii. Minerals helps in proper functioning of various
enzyme system in metabolic pathway and few are
anti oxidant.
iv. Anthraquionens acts as anti bacterial and anti viral.
v. Auxins & gibberellins helps in wound healing and
have anti inflammatory actions.

 ‘Comparative study of vegetative morphols and existing
taxonomic study of Aloe vera L’. Journal of plant science 2.
 ab “aloe vera, African flowering plant data base”
conservatoire et Jardin botanique de la ville de Geneve
Retrieved 2000-6-20.
 “Xerophyte” Dictionary of Botany 2001 onward retrieved
2012-9-23.
 Wikipedia (updated), Aloe vera, Available:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aloe vera
 KOKATE E.K (1996), Text Book of Pharmacognosy, Nirali
Prakashan, 39th edition, Delhi.
 Google (updated), About Aloe Vera, Available:
wwwgoogle.com/about aloe vera [25/01/2014]

Liliaceae

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