Aloe Vera and Anthraquinones: What You Need to Know
Reviewed by the Desert Harvest Europe team·Last reviewed June 2026In short: all aloe vera naturally contains anthraquinones, including the laxative compound aloin, in the leaf’s latex layer. The safety question is not which part of the leaf is used, but whether those anthraquinones have been removed. Purified, decolourised aloe is described as aloin-free or anthraquinone-free — and that is what you want in an aloe you take daily.
What are anthraquinones and aloin?
Aloe vera has been valued for its soothing properties for thousands of years, but not all aloe vera products are the same. All aloe vera naturally contains a yellowish sap in the latex layer of its leaf, and that latex contains anthraquinones — naturally occurring organic compounds. One of them, aloin, is believed to irritate the colon and act as a laxative, causing side effects including diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Without proper treatment of the leaf, some aloe products can still contain these irritants.
What the 2013 NTP study actually showed
When aloe is left untreated and its anthraquinones remain intact, it has also been flagged in animal testing. A two-year study on the consumption of untreated aloe vera extract — with its anthraquinones still present — in rats by the US National Toxicology Program (NTP) in 2013 found “clear evidence of carcinogenic activity”.
Crucially, that research concentrated on untreated aloe vera that still contained its anthraquinones, not the purified concentrate typically used in aloe vera supplements made for daily oral use. Through a purification process called decolourisation, the anthraquinones in the latex layer are removed.
What to look for on the label
What matters is whether the anthraquinones (aloin) have actually been taken out — described as anthraquinone-free, aloin-free, purified or decolourised — rather than any claim about which part of the leaf was used. Not all treatment processes are equal:
- Some products skip the equipment needed to filter out the anthraquinones, and in doing so can strip away many of the plant’s nutrients as well.
- Others use heat in processing, which caramelises the sugars and breaks down the large polysaccharide chains, removing beneficial nutrients.
- Some aloe products are marketed for digestion or weight loss — claims often linked to the laxative effect of aloin, the very compound you want removed.
- And some contain very little active aloe at all; a few have been sued for misleading descriptions.
Why this matters for a sensitive bladder
For anyone taking aloe daily — including many people with interstitial cystitis or bladder pain syndrome — a purified, aloin-free aloe removes exactly the irritant laxative fraction you would not want circulating day after day. The interest for a sensitive bladder is in the acemannan, a polysaccharide associated with the bladder’s protective GAG layer, not in the anthraquinones. You can read the detail on our aloe vera science page, and how people take it on the recommended dosage page.
Desert Harvest’s anthraquinone-free aloe
Desert Harvest Super-Strength Aloe Vera, distributed in Europe by Bivio Medical, is anthraquinone-free and purified. A cold freeze-dry process filters out the anthraquinones and insoluble fibre while keeping the acemannan, and the cold process avoids the heat that breaks nutrients down. Aloe vera is a food supplement, not a medicine, and none of this is intended to treat, diagnose or prevent any condition — it is simply why a purified, aloin-free aloe is the sensible choice for daily use. It is part of what makes Desert Harvest different.
