According to the literature, the common method of harvesting Aloe ferox is manual leaf cutting. Only 1 0 to 15 of the lower leaves of an adult Aloe ferox plant are harvested once a year. The leaves are cut with a sickle as close to the stem (3-4 cm) as possible.
Processing:
Literature indicates three means of processing the Aloe ferox. Firstly, the ‘draining’ of the aloe
exudates from the cut leaves is done by placing the cut leaves in a ‘stack’ around a plastic-lined hollow
in the ground, with the cut end towards the centre of the circle. This allows the main extract from the
tapping, the pale yellow ‘bitter aloe’ sap, to drain out of the leaf for collection and processing (Merlin,
Draining takes between 4-5 hours. Literature also indicates more exudate in the wet season,
as compared to the dry months. This aloe leaf exudate is also called bitters, sap, juice
or latex. Processing of the bitter aloe sap, according to the literature, includes the boiling of the sap
to reduce the moisture content to less than 6 %, to produce what is often referred to as aloe drug-,
bitter-, crystalline- or powdered aloes, aloe lump or –brick.
Secondly, the literature indicates that the exudate may be extracted by squeezing the leaves or by
warm or cold water retting (soak in water).
Finally, the gel, a recent entry into the Aloe ferox industry, can be derived from the mesophyll layer of
the leaves of the plant. The processed derivatives of the leaf mesophyll, which
often require advanced extraction technology to pulp the leaves to remove the gel (Newton and
Vaughan, 1996), can be found as products sold as aloe gel fillet, concentrated- and crude gel,
decolourised- and/or pasteurised gel, freeze- or spray-dried powdered gel.
This study found similar extraction and processing practices in the wild harvesting of Aloe ferox in the
communal areas of the Eastern Cape and on land in the Western Cape. Tappers make use of a sickle
(hand-held agricultural tool) for cutting the leaves, which are then ‘tapped’ through the stacking and
draining process described in the above. Overall, only 1 % per leaf gets processed and the
rest of the leaf is discarded, sometimes providing fodder for animals.
According to harvesters in the Eastern and Western Cape, it is possible to collect leaves from 60 to
100 plants a day depending on the weather and the willingness of the harvester to collect material.
Cut leaves are collected in a rubber sheet hung around the tappers’ neck or in a plastic bucket, and
carried to the stack for processing. The stack is built to approximately hip-height, which
can include between 150 – 500 leaves. Exudate is drained from the leaves into
the plastic hallow at the centre of the stack. Harvesters are able to build more than one
stack a day, with each stack producing approximately five litres of sap (weather permitting). Draining,
according to the harvesters, can take between 2 to 3 hours in good weather conditions, however,
respondents indicated that they leave the stack for at least 24 hours.
Tappers will then collect the exudate and pass it through a sieve into a clean container which has been
supplied by the company that they will sell the product to. Boiling, in most cases, is conducted by the
company, which purchases the exudate as this allows for quality control and for the company to
ensure consistency in product.
Tappers will then collect the exudate and pass it through a sieve into a clean container which has been
supplied by the company that they will sell the product to. Boiling, in most cases, is conducted by the company, which purchases the exudate as this allows for quality control and for the company to ensure consistency in product. The number of leaves that are removed from a plant, at any one time varies from 6 to 15 leaves.
The number of leaves that are removed from a plant, at any one time varies from 6 to 15 leaves, further indicated that an average of 24 leaves is required to obtain one litre of raw leaf exudate and two tons of fresh leaves are required to yield a kilogram of Aloe ferox powder.
Cooking of approximately 2000 litres of raw bitters sap is required to provide 1 ton of crystalline bitters.
In this study, the Eastern Cape harvesters indicated harvesting more frequently, from 2-3 months but generally 8-10 months. Western Cape interviewees indicated that from one plant they harvest every 12 months (humid areas) and 18 months in (non-humid areas). This process ensures the healthy growth of the plant.
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs. Resource Assessment for Aloe ferox in South Africa. Republic of South Africa. – October 2014
