Abstract

Aloe vera is a very important crop extensively used for food, medicinal and cosmetic industry. The gel obtained from aloevera is a very important product. Studies were carried to understand the relation between textural properties like penetration and cutting force with respect to gel distribution in aloevera leaves. The gel distribution percentage was 24.11 per cent, 27.30 per cent and 38.40 per cent, respectively in top, middle and bottom regions of aloevera plant, indicating that leaves from bottom region of the plant only needs to be harvested for increased gel extraction. The study using the textural analyzer revealed that during the process of removal of the spikes from the aloevera leaves, the cutting of outer spikes in vertical direction required only 9 to 11 per cent of cutting force when compared to the horizontal direction, which would be helpful in developing a suitable cutting tool for mechanization. Low temperature storage of 5 ± 1°C for 24 h made the aloe vera leaves harder requiring greater penetration and cutting forces.

Keywords: Aloe vera, gel content, penetration force, cutting force, textural analyser.