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A. vera mucilaginous gel is considered to be a potential source of natural polymers, having numerous applications in food, medicines and cosmetic products due to the presence of seventy-five potentially bioactive molecules, such as polysaccharides, proteins and glycoproteins [18, 29].

Acemannan alone was used in wound care pharmaceuticals and alveolar osteitis patients as Acemannan Hydrogel™ [4, 10] as well as Acemannan immunostimulant^TM, used in fibrosarcoma treatment in cats and dogs [4, 21], and also in other products like Immuno-10 [38, 39], Alcortin^® [38], and Mole-Cure^® [40].

In this context, due the Aloe polysaccharides having the ability to swell, water retention capacity, or ability to adsorb organic molecules such as fatty acids [7, 20], represents a potential microencapsulation agent through spray drying process to produce functional food containing bioactive labile compounds, such as gallic acid and curcumin [41, 42].

The use of edible films in fruit has been applied to substitute fungicides, consisting of single biopolymers or combinations to other biopolymers, lipids, polysaccharides and proteins. These films can reduce the loss of water and respiration rate, besides showing antioxidant effects and potentially reducing the occurrence of damage and pathogens. There are several studies with A. vera mucilaginous gel as edible coating applied to fruit, such as bananas, apricots, strawberries, raspberries and papayas, maintaining quality and increasing their shelf life [43–45].

A. vera has also been extensively explored, along with other biomaterials, for application to tissue engineering. A. vera polymers have potential use as biomaterial due to advantages such as biodegradability, oxygen permeability, and antioxidant activity, as well as regeneration and cell proliferation stimulant properties. These extracts are also economical and show low toxicity [46].

Based on the previously mentioned properties, recent research on the use A. vera gel investigate its use conjugated to natural and synthetic polymers in order to produce 2D and 3D matrices, such as hydrogels, microspheres, sponges, nanofibers and functional films [47–50]. A large part of these biomaterials has been prepared by combining A. vera gel with cellulose, chitosan, alginates, gellan gum, tragacanth gum, poly(e-caprolactone), jelly, collagen and glucan [50–59].