Harvesting and Storage

Common harvest and Storage methods for Aloe vera in Honduras

In Honduras, the harvesting of the Aloe vera, consists of cutting the leaves and stems at the base of the plant. This happens during the dry season or summer and is done manually. Once the harvest is carried out of the field, the Aloe vera leaves and stems are transported to the artificer soap producing companies, which buy the raw materials. Here, the Aloe vera is further processed. The Aloe vera is not stored by the farmers itself, but it is immediately transported to their client. [FAO]

Opportunities for improvement

The possibilities for mechanical harvesting of Aloe vera are limited. In this area there is no room for improvement. Personally, I think it is a good thing that the plants are harvested manually, because this way, the local people still have work to have a source of income. It could be an option to have a storage place at the plantation itself. This way, spoilage is minimized. [FAO]

To give you an impression of the harvesting and storage I added a link with a nice video of Aloe vera in the Dominican Republic. Check it out and let me know how you feel about it. 

Click here!  

Since it was hard to find harvesting methods within an Aloe vera plantation, I wrote a part about how you can harvest Aloe vera at your own home, to give you an indication of how it works. [aloeverareview] Try it out and feel free to message me.

Harvesting:

1. First of all, you will need a thick leaf. You should feel a bit of give, when squeezing the leaf. The size of the leaf doesn’t matter, since it depends on the size of your plant.  
2. Once you know which leaves you want to harvest, use a sharp knife to cut them off. Do so, as close to the base as possible.
3. After you have cut off the leaf, let the aloin (yellow brown sap) drip out by holding the cut side down. 

Making a gel/Processing:

1. Wash the leaf or leaves with clean water.
2. Cut open the leaf and peel off the outer green skin.
3. Cut out the sections with knots, since there won’t be any gel in here.
4. After peeling of the skin and removing knots, you should be left with translucent gel.

Storing:

1. Cut the section in smaller pieces. This way it will be easier to use later.





Figure 10: Slices of Aloe vera and Sections of Aloe vera gel 

2. Keep it in the refrigerator for a week or store it in the freezer for a month.