Carob

Carob comes from a long-lived evergreen tree bearing large, brown, leathery pods and seeds which are rich in sugar. Often called locust beans, carob has been used as food in the eastern Mediterranean region since very ancient times. The tree grows to a height of about fifty feet and bears red and yellow flowers, which eventually develop into pods. These pods can reach lengths of about eight inches, with each containing a row of up to fifteen hard, brown-red seeds, which are generally discarded. The carob tree cannot survive in extremely arid lands. In the Horn of Africa, an endangered cousin of the carob (C. oreothauma) is found now in only two locations in the wild.

Cultivated by the Greeks, carob was valued as a sweetmeat. In the Middle East, carob pods are not only used for animal fodder, but are chewed by children as a sweet, particularly in tropical Africa and parts of Asia. Donkeys are also particularly fond of them. It was not greatly used for human consumption in the West until the latter half of the 20th century, when it attained “health food” status. The pods can sometimes be found in health food stores. In the Middle East, the locust gum is still made into a sweetmeat called “St. John’s Bread”, named after the Biblical character who wandered the desert eating nothing but locusts and wild honey. Opinion is divided as to whether it was the insect or plant that was meant, although in fact, parts of the Middle East consider the insects themselves a delicacy.

The pods ripen in late summer and autumn, but keep so well that they are available most of the year. They are tough to chew but deliciously sweet, containing 30-50% sugar (D-mannose and D-galactose) and are a pleasant alternative to chewing gum. The broken carob pods, called kibble, become full of a sweet gum with a distinctive smell and taste. They are roasted and ground to produce a powder used as a coffee or chocolate substitute since it does not have any caffeine or oxalic acid and contains only 1% fat. Depending on the form, chocolate can be as high as 50%. In Lebanon, a thick dark syrup called dibess kharroob is produced from the pods, which are picked when dark and ripe and taken to a special press. This syrup is served with pita bread as a sweet dip or mixed with tahini.

Outside the Middle East, carob is little known other than an ornamental. However, it has been introduced into California, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, and India where the gum is used as a binding agent, particularly in processed cheeses. The food industry also uses carob as an emulsifier and stabiliser (E410) in many other foods, including ice cream, soups, and salad dressings. Before processing, carob gum is not only rich in natural sugars, but also in calcium and other minerals. Carob has been used medicinally as a soothing skin powder. Unlike chocolate or cocoa, carob does not contain such CNS (central nervous system) stimulants as caffeine, or the muscle stimulant theobromine, or any stimulating methylxanthines.

Carob seeds are so uniform in size and weight that Arab merchants used them as measures for the weighing of precious metals and jewels. The word carat is derived from this practice and comes from the Greek word for the seed, keration.