Method to prepare Aloe vera L. gel powder Matured leaves
of Aloe vera L. were initially washed in a water solution
(200 ppm solution of sodium hypochlorite) and then further
rinsed with a dilute solution of sodium hypochlorite
(20 ppm). If leaves were extremely muddy then they were
pre washed with deionised water. In order to avoid
contamination of internal fillet with the yellow sap, the
traditional hand-filleting method of processing aloe leaves
was developed. In this method, the lower 1 in. of the leaf
base (the white part attached to the large rosette stem of the
plant), the tapering point (2–4 in.) of the leaf top and the
short, sharp spines located along the leaf margins were
removed by a sharp knife, then the knife, was introduced
into the mucilage layer below the green rind avoiding the
vascular bundles and the top rind was removed. The bottom
rind was similarly removed and the rind parts, to which a
significant amount of mucilage remains attached, were
discarded. The inner fillet was washed again ensuring that
there was no possibility of bacterial contamination, after
which, the fillet was cut in to pieces and dried in a hot air
oven at a temperature of 50 °C for a period of 12 h. The
dried fillet then ground and stored for further study (Gulia
et al. 2009).