Barbaloin (BB)

Aloin extracted from natural sources is a mixture of two diastereomers, termed aloin A (also called barbaloin) and aloin B (or isobarbaloin), which have similar chemical properties. Aloin is an anthraquinone glycoside, meaning that its anthraquinone skeleton has been modified by the addition of a sugar molecule. Anthraquinones are a common family of naturally occurring yellow, orange, and red pigments of which many have cathartic properties, attributes shared by aloin. Aloin is related to aloe emodin, which lacks a sugar group but shares aloin"""s biological properties. Aloin is usually prepared by extraction from aloe latex (the term "Cape aloe" also refers to the dried latex of the leaves of several species of the Aloe genus, especially A. ferox [Blumenthal, 1998]), the bitter yellow exudate that seeps out from just underneath the skin of aloe leaves.