Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) is a species native to the Mediterranean region, cultivated for its edible seed pods. Also known as St John's Bread, the flesh of the pods tastes similar to sweetened cocoa, but contains no psychoactive substances and is often used as a hypoallergenic, drug-free substitute. It is most commonly put in cakes, icing, or sometimes, cookies. The seeds themselves, also known as locust bean, are used as animal feed and to extract locust bean gum, a thickening agent. (E 410)
Carob is not a staple food in the Mediterranean, but provides good sustenance during times when other crops are scarce, and is a traditional feed for livestock.
Carob pods were the most important source of sugar before sugarcane and later sugar beets became widely available. Nowadays, the seeds are processed for the use in cosmetics, curing tobacco, and making paper. Because of their uniform size, the seeds were also used to weigh precious gemstones. The word carat is derived from the carob tree.
Carob is an evergreen tree with pinnately compound leaves (have 2 to 6 pairs of oval leaflets), which can grow to a height of 15 meters and be very handsome.
The fruit of carob is a pod, technically a legume 15 to 30 centimeters in length and fairly thick and broad.
Carob can be produced in California, and was grown for a while in the Southland, but this has not been economically successful because the land is too valuable to devote to this crop.
Carob is a legume that comes from the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua), an evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean (it is actually a shrub that is trained into tree form by pruning).
The tree bears fruit (carob pods) after six to eight years of growth, and can easily bear 100 pounds of pods per year by its twelfth year, increasing to an average of 200 to 250 pounds annually as the tree grows older.
After harvesting, the long bean-like pods from the carob tree are cooked for a short time or roasted and then ground into carob powder (roasting enhances its chocolate-like flavor).
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