BIOPIRACY Imitations Not Innovations - Biopirateria

32 Biopiracy: Imitations Not Innovations
4. ALOE VERA
Other names: Ghritakumari, Ghikwar and Gwarpata in Hindi, Korfad in
Marathi, Kanwar in Gujarati, Kottoli in Tamil, Gusamsaram in Telugu, Indian
aloe in English.
Part/s used: Leaf juice.
Description and location of the plant: It is a herbaceous plant, with thick
fleshy leaves and red flowers and appears on old plants at the end of the winter
season. An introduced variety, but now runs wild throughout drier India and
has been naturalised in Florida, Central America and Asia.
Action and indigenous use of the plant: The plant is abortifacient,
anthelmintic, aperient, blood purifying, carminative, cathartic, cooling,
deobstruant, depurative, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, ophthalmic and
purgative. It is useful in amenorrhoea, atonic, dyspepsia, burn, cold and cough,
colic (abdominal pain), improvement of eyesight, glandular enlargement and
spleen diseases, skin disorders hair tonic for hair growth, jaundice, uteriae
disorders menstrual suppressions, piles, rectal fissures, sexual power restoration,
dispersal of swellings and dispelling of worms.
Modern use in the patent: There are over 1,000 patents granted by the
USPTO that are related to this plant, which include:
US Patent 6,375,992: Methods of hydrating mammalian skin comprising
oral administration of a defined composition.
US Patent 6,372,791: Method of promoting skin cell metabolism.
US Patent 6,372,234: Products for topical applications comprising oil
bodies.
US Patent 6,368,639: Herbal skin care formulation and a process for the
preparation thereof.
US Patent 6,365,200: Topical skin sensitizer.
US Patent 6,358,516: One-step system for cleansing, conditioning, and
treating the skin.
Antimicrobial treatment for herpes simplex virus and other infectious diseases.