Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is grown for its edible seed pods. Carob is also known as St. John's bread.
Carob is a frost-tolerant tree, 10 m tall, has broad and semi-spherical crown, with thick trunk and rough brown bark and sturdy branches. The leaves are 10-20 cm long, alternate and pinnate. Most carob trees are dioecious (having male and female plant), and flowering occurs in autumn. The flowers are borne on spurs from old wood and on the trunk, small and numerous, arranged spirally along the inflorescence axis in catkin-like racemes, and pollinated by both wind and insects. Male flowers produce a characteristic odor, resembling semen. Carob fruit is a pod with elongated, compressed, straight or curved, and thickened at the sutures features. The pods take a full year to develop and ripen, and ripen pods will fall to the ground and are eaten by various mammals, thus help in dispersing the seeds.
Carob is usually dried or roasted and available in powder or chip form. It has a slightly sweet taste and is used as an ingredient in cakes and cookies. Carob is sometimes used as an substitute for chocolate. The seeds, known as locust beans, are used as animal feed, and also the source of locust bean gum, a thickening agent used in many processed foods.
Carob is enjoyed as a snack in Egypt, and crushed pods are used to make a refreshing drink. In Turkey, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Sicily, carob is used to make compotes and liquers. Carob is also proven effective in relieving diarrhea in infants. While in Libya, a syrup is extracted from carob, named rub, is used as a complement to an Asida meal. Asida is an Arab dish made up of cooked wheat flour lump of dough, with added butter and honey or rub, often served during religious holidays.
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