*3.1. Raw Material*

Leaves of *Aloe vera* plants (aged 3–4 years) were obtained from a market in Mexico City. The leaves were washed with soap and water, followed by disinfection with ethanol. The gel was extracted by removing the cortex and was frozen and lyophilized until use.

## *3.2. Physicochemical Characterization of Aloe Vera (AV)*

In the raw gel of *Aloe vera*, the acidity was determined using AOAC method 939.05 (2015) [42], while the pH was determined using a potentiometer (pH-120; Conductronic, Puebla, Pue, Mexico). Soluble solids (ºBrix) were assessed using a digital refractometer (HSR-500; Atago, Kobe, Hyogo-ken, Japan) at a 0–32 ºBrix scale considering that 1 ºBrix = 1 g soluble solid in 100 g of solution [43]. Moisture was determined according to method 2005.02, raw protein by the Kjeldahl method (2005.06), raw fat by a Soxhlet method (920.39c), and ash by method 923.03 (AOAC, 2015) [42]. Neutral detergent fibre was assessed in the lyophilized sample of the gel, according to the 2002:04/ISO technique (16472:2005) from AOAC [42]. Total dietary fibre was determined through the enzymatic-gravimetric method (32–05) outlined by AOAC (2015) [42].
