Fresh Aloe, how long does it stay good?

[jennyannlowe]

I ran across an big aloe leaf in Walmart for a buck and decided what the heck and brought it home. I've never extracted aloe before. I looked up how to extract it...but once I've done that, put it in a air tight container, glass? how do I store it? in the fridge? How long will it keep that way? Do I need to add a preservative? Citric acid? how much?

add at trace? I know another thread said that fresh aloe added to lye water turns it yellow. So when would I add it? Add straight? or mix with little water? if blended with water, and citric acid...how long would it keep?

thank you !

 

[Steve85569]

I keep aloe in the fridge and add it to the oils rather than to the water. My first attempt at whipped soap came out very white with aloe gel in the oil - no discoloration from the aloe.

 

[cmzaha]

The best to do is stand the aloe upright for a while to let the resinous brown to run down to the cut end of the aloe. This will help keep you aloe from discoloring if you get rid of the thick yellowish brown, cut off the discolored end and discard. Now cut down the length of the aloe, thinly peel off the outside of the leaf then fillet off the clear gel, from the inside of the leaf. Put in a blender and puree up well with a little fruit fresh or citric acid, to keep it from turning pink. I have kept it up to 3 weeks in the fridge, always refrigerate the gel, or freeze it. I like to make up a gallon or so at a time since it is so pesky to fillet down. you can use fresh aloe as full water replacement when mixing lye

 

[jennyannlowe]

does citric acid help preserve it? How much do I put?

 

[Obsidian]

I freeze my fresh aloe gel, no need to worry about preserving that way.

 

[cmzaha]

does citric acid help preserve it? How much do I put?

If it is just one leaf I use a pinch -1/8th tsp

 

[apples]

i know i'm late to the crowd but thought i'll chip in since i made quite a number of batches with fresh aloe from my garden.

i found information somewhere about citric acid to preserve aloe gel, otherwise it is only good for few hours before it started losing its nutrition (then turn pink, i guess the pink is from oxidation). in the fridge it can last a month before turning pink (just like cmzaha said), in the freezer it stays green. usually i just squeeze in a small wedge of lemon juice into the aloe juice to preserve, in case i only use it much later.

i usually use 1/2 amount of water with lye (i do 2:1 water: lye ratio), the other half goes into the oils. when lye is added to aloe, it turned brown but slowly turn creamish yellow at trace. remain creamish yellow when cured if not gelled *see attached picture (slightly brownish if gelled). do share pictures if you've made some!

the attached picture is aloe soap not gelled (took the picture when i tested the stamp)