Review of literature on medicinal use of endemic aloe of Ethiopia

The plant world is a Pandora of active chemical compounds. Nearly half the medicines that we use today are of herbal origin, and a quarter contains plant extracts or active chemicals taken directly from plants. Aloe genus, which belongs to the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, produces a number of metabolites in good yields and some have been shown to possess useful biological activities. Many compounds belonging to different classes, including anthrones, chromones, pyrones, naphthalenes and flavonoids have so far been reported from the endemic aloe of Ethiopia. This review focuses on phytochemistry and medicinal use of endemic Aloe of Ethiopia to allow an evaluation of the potential for utilization of the largest biomass of endemic Aloe available.