Tiny's Blog

Tiny's Blog

Tiny's Blog

All About Aloe: Anthraquinones and Aloin!

All About Aloe: Anthraquinones and Aloin!

In the previous blog post, we talked about polysaccharides, particularly focussing on acemannan.  In this post, we will be talking about anthraquinones, particularly focussing on aloin!  Once again, it might be quite boring, but it is important and will help to put some of the other blog posts in this series into context. In chemistry terms, anthraquinones are just molecules that have a particular shape.  If they bond to a simple unit of sugar they are known as anthraquinone glycosides.  Note that we are referring here to sugar in the true chemical sense and not to the sweet white powder sucrose.  Anthraquinones occur naturally in various plants, including rhubarb root, senna leaves and fruit, cascara bark, and aloe vera.  In aloe vera, they occur in a thin layer known as the latex layer that is found between the green outer skin and the soft inner gel. Anthraquinones have a wide range of…

Read the full article
All About Aloe: Polysaccharides and Acemannan!

All About Aloe: Polysaccharides and Acemannan!

In the first of a series of special blog posts about aloe vera, I am going to talk about polysaccharides!  This will probably be every bit as boring as it sounds, but to make the most of later posts, it seems like the best place to start!  Hopefully by the end you will have a better understanding of how aloe vera works and what makes our own new range of aloe vera products so impressive. Before I begin, let me politely ask any chemistry professors to look away now!  This will be very much a simple guide to polysaccharides, focussing particularly on acemannan.  We won’t be drawing out molecular structures and concerning ourselves with acetylated bonds or any of that!  I only want to clear up a bit of confusion around polysaccharides, GAGs and acemannan, not get my PhD in biochemistry! Let’s start with some terminology. Polysaccharides are large molecules made up of chains…

Read the full article
Which Tiny Pioneer Aloe Vera Product Should I Buy?

Which Tiny Pioneer Aloe Vera Product Should I Buy?

As we add two new aloe vera capsules to our range of Tiny Pioneer aloe vera products, I thought it might be useful to have some sort of guide to help you choose the best product for your individual preferences and requirements. I will be writing a detailed piece comparing all our aloe vera products in the coming weeks, but for the time being I have made a simple flow chart that might help you decide!  Further details about each product can also be found on each item’s own page – these are linked at the bottom, under the flow chart. As you can see, I am no graphic designer!  This flow chart was hastily made on Sunday morning and I will try to make a prettier one in the future when I have a bit more time to devote to it!  I think it will be helpful for people to have…

Read the full article
Do You Know The Secret of the Three Lines?

Do You Know The Secret of the Three Lines?

Hello!I apologise for not uploading a blog last month.  I was ill for a few days and before I knew it, March was over!  I thought I would upload a short post now and hopefully get something more comprehensive to you soon! This belated March post is certainly not my normal kind of content, but I think you’ll find it quite life changing to be honest!  I sometimes get phone calls from people who are trying to find a particular product or page on the Tiny Pioneer website, but can’t see it.  If you generally visit from your computer, you will probably find this surprising, as I have done my best to make the website as easy to navigate as possible!  I used to be worried by these calls, but now I always know what the problem is:  the caller is viewing the website on their mobile phone and does not…

Read the full article