PHYTOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING OF THE PLANT EXTRACT OF Aloe vera L.

Abstract

The plant Aloe vera L., commonly known as aloe, belongs to the genus Aloe and the family Asphodelaceae, which includes over 300 identified species. It has been widely used for medicinal purposes in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, as well as in traditional medicine. Its phytotherapeutic potential is due to the production of secondary metabolites that can act directly or indirectly on the body, potentially inhibiting or activating important molecular and cellular targets. This study aimed to identify the main classes of metabolites present in the ethanolic extract of A. vera through the phytochemical screening of the plant extract and to produce a by-product based on aloe. For this purpose, 750mL of the ethanolic extract of the plant material were used and subjected to phytochemical tests to detect the presence or absence of the evaluated classes through precipitation and coloration reactions. The results obtained from the phytochemical analysis of the ethanolic extract of A. vera detected the presence of all evaluated classes. The produced by-product was a soap that conferred the phytotherapeutic properties of aloe, which was distributed to a group of people who reported wound healing potential, increased skin hydration, reduced acne, and decreased skin spots, demonstrating potential biological actions associated with the aloe plant. It is considered that the ethanolic extract of A. vera contains the presence of secondary metabolite classes such as alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, coumarins, flavonoids, condensed tannins, saponins, and triterpenes. The phytochemical screening of the plant extract revealed the presence of all evaluated classes. Therefore, the aloe plant has great therapeutic potential and presents a significant number of metabolic classes present in its vegetative structures.