How should I cut an Aloe vera plant for extracting juice?

Question

I am about to buy an Aloe vera plant for extracting its juice. I have heard that a leaf needs to be cut so that juice can be extracted from it.

My questions are:

How should I cut the leaf without too much damage to the plant?
How much leaf is needed for 1 tablespoon of juice?
How frequently can I cut the leaves?
How long will the plant be able to survive if I go on like this?

I wish to keep this Aloe vera plant alive permanently (for a long time) in my house so that I can extract juice as needed.

There are kinds of Aloe Vera that are very irritant if they are eaten — Alexander Leon VI, Nov 30 '15 at 19:21
@J.Musser - this question did originally speak of using the juice daily, seems to have been altered. Because it mentioned daily, that's why I answered as I did. — Bamboo, Dec 06 '15 at 11:39
@Bamboo The OP **never** mentioned daily use. Please take a look at the full revision history of the post at http://gardening.stackexchange.com/posts/22514/revisions and see for yourself. Thanks! — Niall C., Dec 06 '15 at 15:54
@NiallC - I looked at that yesterday and you're right, I couldn't find it there. However, despite my age, I ain't yet at the stage where I'm seeing things that aren't there or forgetting what I've seen - and Escoce also refers to 'daily' use. If the poster of the question makes an alteration, does that show in the edit stream? If it does show, usually, then Escoce and I are both going bonkers... and while I'm on, what does OP stand for - I know what it means, but can't work out why OP — Bamboo, Dec 07 '15 at 12:10
@Bamboo If you saw the post within 5 minutes of posting, it will be in the 'grace period'. In that time, any changes to the post will not reflect in the revision history. I'm guessing that's what happened here... (cc @Niall) — J. Musser, Dec 28 '15 at 22:39
@J.Musser - ah, thanks for that, its good to know I'm not going senile...! — Bamboo, Dec 29 '15 at 16:42

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 20 '16 at 18:06

Here are the answers to your questions in order:

Cut the leaf as close to the base of the plant as possible to be able to extract as much of the Aloe Vera Gel as possible.
About 2-3 inches of leaf should provide a tablespoon of juice if cut at the widest part of the leaf.
Always leave a couple of leaves on the plant to keep it healthy enough to regrow. I buy my Aloe Leaves at Wholefoods, their stores stock them.
As I mentioned about don't cut all of the leaves off unless you want the plant to die.

Top tip! Make sure you remove the Aloin compound which is the yellowish slimy layer underneath the skin of the leaf and only use the pure gel underneath for juicing. The Aloin compound is a natural laxative. Beware!

For more top tips on Aloe Vera Check out the link below. http://www.aloeverahq.com/how-to-make-your-own-aloe-vera-juice/

Welcome to the site Jessica! Thanks for this thorough answer. We hope you stay and have fun with us! — Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL, Mar 20 '16 at 18:07

Bamboo · Answer 2 · 2015-12-06T11:40:58.677

2

UPDATE 6/12/15 (or 12/6/15 for the States)

The answer I gave below is rendered largely irrelevent and pointless because the question has been altered in such a way that there is now no mention of daily use. I'll leave it on in case the links are of any use though.

You're going to need a lot more than one aloe vera plant if you want to extract juice daily. Every time you want some juice, you have to remove a healthy leaf; obviously, if you do that every day, and your plant originally has 10 leaves, you'll have ten day's worth of juice and a dead plant if you remove all the foliage all the time.

Link below gives info on how to extract/use the juice, but there are plenty of places on the internet, including Youtube videos, which show you how to do it, just Google 'How to extract Aloe vera juice from Aloe at home' and plenty of others will come up

http://naturalthrifty.com/aloe-vera-juice.html

Here's another link, a UK one, but the info's the same apart from growing techniques - right at the bottom, it tells you that your plant should be Aloe barbadensis if you want to consume the juice fresh. It also gives a couple more descriptions as to how to extract the juice without the latex, which is highly laxative and probably not a desirable addition to your diet on a daily basis.

http://rawedibleplants.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/aloe-vera-aloe-barbadensis-or-aloe-vera.html

edited Dec 06 '15 at 11:40

answered Nov 30 '15 at 12:20

Bamboo

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I've got some cultivar that expands to fill all available space, with lots of separate stalks and leaves. When I want it, I just cut off a leaf w scissors, cut up one edge of the leaf w knife or scissors, and use a rolling pin to get the goo out. In a big enough pot, this plant could easily supply a leaf a day. I suspect it's some variety developed for road verges in say, California. – Wayfaring Stranger Nov 30 '15 at 17:11
1

Oh lord, I do hope yours is an edible version, not all varieties of Aloe are suitable for human consumption. Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) is the one to extract the gel/juice from. – Bamboo Nov 30 '15 at 17:20
I have 2 that are about 2 1/2' high, each in a 5 gallon pot, and some smaller ones. The leaves are about 4" by 1 1/2" at the bases. Even with just those 2, 1 tbsp/day would be no problem. – J. Musser Nov 30 '15 at 18:19
@Bamboo Yes, edible barbadensis, just a weedy variety. I've got a couple non-edible aloes too. They're prettier. – Wayfaring Stranger Nov 30 '15 at 19:22
@WayfaringStranger yes, there are some really attractive aloes. The concept of a 'weedy' aloe sounds funny to me, they don't survive outdoors here...! – Bamboo Dec 01 '15 at 17:39
I have 2 kinds, the big one (straight species) ([one of mine](http://i.stack.imgur.com/MU2TO.jpg)), and *A. vera* 'chinensis' ([one of mine](http://i.stack.imgur.com/wEgKQl.jpg)). 'chinensis' can be quite weedy. Does it look like yours, @WayfaringStranger? – J. Musser Dec 02 '15 at 23:30
@J.Musser Not quite weedy enough yet, but judging from the cat, the leaves are about the same size. Give it a year, and it should fill the pot. – Wayfaring Stranger Dec 03 '15 at 00:41
@WayfaringStranger I usually pull most of the small ones, to keep it tidy. – J. Musser Dec 03 '15 at 00:58
@J.Musser If you put those little ones in pots, in a few years, you'll have eight or ten pot-fulls; unless someone stops you by giving you an African violet or a Zamioculcas. – Wayfaring Stranger Dec 03 '15 at 03:11
@WayfaringStranger yep that plant was doing 40-50 lil pups a year which I was selling our front for #3 a pop xD – J. Musser Dec 03 '15 at 03:35
To whoever downvoted w/o comment - This answer seems entirely accurate to me, if the plant is small. – J. Musser Dec 04 '15 at 19:53

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:42

Is this juice for skin care or consumption?

The juice for skin-care does not need to be as carefully extracted as the juice for consumption. The below videos show the processes

How to Use An Aloe Vera Plant For Skin Care where the instructor cuts the Aloe Vera plant just besides the end of the leave not damaging other leaves.
How to Prepare and Eat Aloe where the instructor avoids the yellow juice while eating the clear gel inside the plant.

where it is important that the yellow juice is not used for consumption. The first video is shorter with skin care focus while the second longer with consumption focus.

Needed

Get Spatula and a knife to extract the non-yellow gel and juice inside the green leaves. Rinse the inside with water to extract the yellow, not for consumption, while the white gel with white content can be consumed. A blender is nice for smoothies.

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How should I cut an Aloe vera plant for extracting juice?

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