Aloe Vera Inner Leaf, 200:1 Concentrate

Description

Aloe vera inner leaf, concentrated 200 to 1 and decolorized, so one capsule stands in for about 20 grams of fresh gel. The bottle holds 90 servings at roughly 21 cents each. Two words on that label are doing all the work. Inner leaf means the clear gel from the centre of the leaf only. Decolorized means the material has been passed over activated carbon to strip the anthraquinones, chiefly aloin, that sit in the rind and in the latex layer just under it.

Specification

Why decolorized aloe vera inner leaf is a different article from whole leaf

This is the one piece of regulatory history worth carrying into the aisle with you. In 2002 the FDA removed aloe from the ingredients it recognised for over the counter laxative use, because the safety data it had asked for was never submitted, and the fraction that history attaches to is the anthraquinone fraction in the rind. Separately, the National Toxicology Program ran a two year study on non decolorized whole leaf extract in rats. Carbon filtered inner leaf material is a different preparation from either, and the processing step is the only reason that distinction exists.

Both of those are matters of regulatory and toxicology record rather than claims about this bottle, which is sold as a food and described here by its composition and its assay.

So when a label says aloe vera inner leaf and decolorized, those are not softeners. They name what was taken out, and the aloin line on the certificate is where the claim gets checked. The FDA dietary supplement pages set out how these products are regulated, which is as foods rather than as medicines.

Gel, juice and latex: why aloe vera inner leaf is the narrow term

Aloe is sold in at least three forms and the words get used loosely. The gel is the clear mucilage in the centre of the leaf, which is what aloe vera inner leaf material is made from. The juice is usually gel diluted with water, sometimes with rind included. The latex is the bitter yellow sap immediately under the skin, where the anthraquinones concentrate, and it is the fraction a careful process removes. A bottle labelled aloe vera and nothing further has told you none of this. The plant part line on the panel is what settles it.

Fresh gel equivalence for aloe vera inner leaf, and its limits

One capsule stands in for about 20 grams of fresh gel measured as starting material. That figure is useful for comparing one concentrate against another and misleading if you read it as equivalence to a spoonful cut from a leaf on a windowsill. Drying and carbon filtration change the material. What survives the process is measured as polysaccharide content on the certificate, which is why that assay carries more weight than the ratio printed on the front of the bottle.

What 200 to 1 actually means

A 200:1 ratio says 200 kilograms of starting material yielded one kilogram of powder. It is a concentration figure, not a potency figure, and on its own it says nothing about the polysaccharide content that aloe preparations are usually assayed for. That number sits on the certificate. Ratio, plant part and marker compound are the three figures that make any botanical label comparable, and the herbals page works through all three at length.

Testing

Every lot of aloe vera inner leaf concentrate goes to an independent laboratory, which confirms species identity, measures the polysaccharide marker, and screens for heavy metals, pesticides and microbials on every lot. Aloin is tested for specifically, because the whole point of a decolorized material is a number on that line rather than a word on a box. Lots outside specification are withdrawn from sale and their certificates stay published, as explained in why we publish the batch that failed.

The rest of the shelf, from psyllium and guar gum through to the single strain cultures, is on the gut health page, and the full range is indexed on supplements index. This product is a food under United States law and is described here by composition, processing and assay only. The certificate for your lot is linked above.