Aloe vera satisfies healthy, thirsty people

By Maria Goretti Tamen

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): We know aloe vera as the basic material in the production of good shampoos. It can also be processed into an allegedly healthy beverage. In Pontianak the aloe vera drink has found its way into the community. Some 60 booths selling the drink along Jl. Budi Utomo are perhaps an indication of how popular the drink is among city dwellers.

Drivers of oplet (collective taxis), buses, taxis and other people are regular customers at aloe vera booths in the Bumi Indah Khatulistiwa housing complex on Jl. Budi Utomo.

"On busy days and under fortunate circumstances we earn between Rp 50,000 and Rp 300,000 a day," said Ani, 34, a drink trader in the area." On Saturdays and Sundays the sales are even higher with families taking a walk and having a drink." Ani's weekly net profit ranges from Rp 500,000 to Rp 700,000.

According to the traders the process of making the drink is not complicated. Cut from the plant, an aloe vera stem is peeled to harvest its solid flesh containing mucus. From this pieces are cut to the desired size and washed with cool water to remove the mucus. The pieces are boiled for 15 minutes, washed clean and boiled again with sugar added. The syrup must be mixed with water or ice for consumption.

One kilogram of raw aloe vera stems costs between Rp 1,000 and Rp 1,500. Cut from the extracted flesh, the pieces weigh between 400 and 500 grams; enough for 4 or 5 glasses. The drink is sold for Rp 1,000 per glass.

Generally the drink traders grow their own plants to reduce expenses, a practice they say is not difficult. Fertilizer is applied every three months, and the plants are weeded regularly. New aloe vera plants are transplanted in order not to disturb the fertility of the mother plant. Usually after one year the desired substance can be harvested.

Apart from its refreshing quality, the drink is also believed to cure many diseases. "There are 1001 kinds of benefits from aloe vera as a medicine. It smoothes a small child's skin and overcomes fever, gastric problems and kidney trouble in adults," Ani said, speaking like a Chinese medicine man. Fam Shin Fo, 69, a Chinese medicine man living at Siantan Hulu, confirmed the plant's properties.

Pontianak's Chinese community believe the aloe vera drink is good for the health of women in advanced pregnancy and their children; the hair of the baby to be born will be shiny black and dense. Bamba, whose wife is six months pregnant, buys the aloe vera drink every day for his wife, "so the birth of the baby will be smooth."