Non-fleshy and bean-like, the carob would not be generally regarded as a
fruit, in the food-use sense, except for its sweetness. To many people
it is familiar only by name as "St. John's Bread", in allusion to the
"locusts" which, according to the Bible, sustained St. John the Baptist
in the desert, and the "husks" which tempted the hungry Prodigal Son,
though "no man gave unto him." The word "locust" was originally applied
to the carob tree; later to migratory and other grasshoppers; and the
name is attached to a number of other leguminous trees with pinnate
leaves and oblong pods (Gleditsia, Hymenaea, Parkia, Robinia). The carob tree is called carrubo in Sicily, carrubio in Italy, algarrobo in Guatemala, alfarrobeira in Brazil.
The tree reaches
50 to 55 ft (15-17 m) in height and at an age of 18 years may have a
trunk 33 in (85 cm) in circumference. The evergreen leaves are pinnate
with 6 to 10 opposite leaflets, oval, rounded at the apex, dark-green,
leathery, 1 to 2 1/2 in (2.5-6.25 cm) long. The tiny red flowers are in
short, slender racernes borne in clusters along the branches–male,
female or hermaphrodite on separate trees. The pod is light- to
dark-brown, oblong, flattened, straight or slightly curved, with a
thickened margin; 4 to 12 in (10-30 cm) long, 3/4 to 1 in (1-2.5 cm)
wide, glossy, tough and fibrous. It is filled with soft,
semi-translucent, pale-brown pulp, scant or plentiful, and 10 to 13
flattened, very hard seeds which are loose in their cells and rattle
when the pod is fully ripe and dry. The unripe pod is green, moist and
very astringent; the ripe pod sweet when chewed (avoiding the seeds) but
the odor of the broken pod is faintly like Limburger cheese because of
its 1.3% isobutyric acid content.
Alphonse
de Candolle said that the carob "grew wild in the Levant, probably on
the southern coast of Anatolia and in Syria, perhaps also in Cyrenaica.
Its cultivation began within historic time. The Greeks diffused it in
Greece and Italy, but it was afterwards more highly esteemed by the
Arabs, who propagated it as far as Morocco and Spain. In all these
countries the tree has become naturalized here and there in a less productive form . . . ".
In
Spain and Portugal it survives only on their Atlantic coasts.
Throughout the Mediterranean region, it is grown only in the warmest
areas near the coast, and the neighboring islands–Cyprus, Crete, Sicily,
Sardinia and Majorca. Producers in the Bari region of Italy on the
Adriatic coast have long exported the pods to Russia and central Europe.
Prince Belmonte in the Province of Salerno, Italy, was a leading
influence in the 19th century in the use of the carob as an ornamental
and avenue tree and in the planting of thousands for reforestation of
the slopes of the Appenines.
Spanish missionaries introduced the
carob into Mexico and southern California. In 1856, 8,000 seedlings,
from seed brought in from Spain by the United States Patent Office, were
distributed in the southern states. More seeds came from Israel in
1859. Many carobs were planted in Texas, Arizona, California and a few
in Florida as ornamental and street trees. Seeds privately imported
from Dalmatia were planted in California in 1873.
In the
Mediterranean region, peasants have virtually lived on the pods in times
of famine, but the tree is valued mostly as providing great amounts of
pods as feed for livestock, as it is also in the State of Campinas,
Brazil. Imported pods used to be regularly sold by street vendors in
the Italian section of lower New York City for chewing. In the early
1920's, there was much promotion of carob culture in California,
especially allied with the development of arid lands, and there was a
flurry of activity in producing "health food" products from imported
pods. Some of these products are still sold today, especially as
substitutes for chocolate. Dr. J. Eliot Coit, of Vista, California, led
in the study of the carob and wrote extensively on its potential
improvement as a crop and its utilization.
In 1949, Dr. Walter
Rittenhouse provided funds for the establishment of a 30-year test plot
in northern San Diego County, where 400 local nursery seedlings and many
trees grafted with Mediterranean budwood were planted and evaluated.
Fruits from several thousand ornamental carob trees in California and
Arizona were collected in an effort to identify superior types for human
food use. Budwood of the most promising clones was supplied to
horticulturists in Tunisia, Israel, Australia, South Africa, Hawaii,
Mexico, Brazil and Chile.
Varieties
From more than 80 clones,
7 selections made by Coit were set out at the Citrus Research Center of
the University of California for preservation. The 7 are, briefly:
'Amele'-an
old commercial variety from Italy; S.P.I. #19437. Female. Pods
light-brown, straight or slightly curved, 5 1/2 to 6 1/4 in (14-16 cm)
long, 3/4 to 1 in (2-2.5 cm) wide; 53.8% sugar content under irrigation
near Indio. Flavor good. Season: September at Indio; October at Vista.
'Casuda'-a
very old cultivar from Spain. Female. Pod brown, mostly straight; 4
3/4 in (12 cm) long; 3/5 in (1.5 cm) wide; 51.7 % sugar at Vista; 56.7 %
under irrigation at Indio. Flavor fair. Season: September at Indio;
October at Vista.
'Clifford'-seedling street tree in
Riverside. Hermaphrodite. Pod light-brown, slightly curved, 5 1/8 in
(13 cm) long, 3/4 in (2 cm) wide; 52.9% sugar content. Flavor fair.
Season: early October; bears regularly and heavily.
'Sfax'-from
Menzel bou Zelfa, Tunisia; S.P.I. #187063. Female. Pod red-brown,
straight or slightly curved; 6 in (15 cm) long, 3/4 in (2 cm) wide;
56.6% sugar at Vista, 45.6% at Indio. Excellent flavor. Season: August
at Indio, September at Vista. A regular, medium-heavy bearer.
'Santa Fe'-seedling
from Santa Fe Springs, California. Hermaphrodite; self-fertile. Pod
light-brown, slightly curved, often twisted; 7 to 7 7/8 in (18-20 cm)
long, 3/4 in (2 cm) wide; 47.5% sugar at Vista. Excellent flavor.
Season: October. Bears regular, good crops. Good for coastal
foothills. Not suited to irrigated culture at Indio.
'Tantillo'-from
Sicily; S.P.I. #233580. Hermaphrodite. Pod dark-brown, mostly
straight; 5 1/8 to 6 in (13-15 cm) long, 3/4 in (2 cm) wide. Of fair
flavor. Season: mid-September to mid-October. Bears heavily and
regularly.
'Tylliria'-from Cyprus; their chief export
variety; S.P.I. # 189008. Female. Pod dark mahogany-brown, slightly
curved, 6 in (15 cm) long, 3/4 to 1 in (2-2.5 cm) wide; 47.4% sugar at
Vista; 50.9% at Indio; 48.8% in Cyprus. Good flavor. Season:
mid-August to mid-September at Indio; October at Vista. Adapted to
coastal foothills. (As reported from Cyprus, seed content is 7.6 to
10.6%; pod contains 51 % sugar and the seeds 49% gum).
These 7 superseded some older cultivars, including 'Bolser', 'Conejo', 'Gabriel', 'Horne', and 'Molino'; all hermaphroditic.
Other common cultivars in Cyprus are:
'Koundourka'-a
tree with weeping branches; mature pods generally less than 6 1/2 in
(17 cm) long; they split readily; have 14.7% seeds with a high (58%) gum
content.
'Koumbota'-a large-growing tree with "knotty" pods with low seed content. Pods contain 53% sugar; seeds, 53% gum.
Grafted
types are classed as 'Imera'. The name 'Apostolika' is a general term
for seedlings of fair quality. Wild types as a group are called
'Agria'.
Pollination
In a planting of
female trees, one male should be included for every 25 or 30 females.
In southern Europe, branches from male trees are grafted onto some of
the females in an orchard instead of interplanting male trees.
Climate
The carob is slightly hardier
than the sweet orange. Young trees suffer frost damage. Mature tees
can endure a temperature drop to 20º F (-6.67º C). Frost during the
blooming period will reduce or prevent fruit-set. The tree does best in
a Mediterranean-type climate with cool, not cold, winters, mild to warm
springs, and warm to hot summers with little or no rain. Temperatures
in carob-growing regions of Israel may reach 104º to 122º F (40º-50º C)
in summer. Ideal annual precipitation is 30 in (75 cm), but widely
spaced trees will thrive with only 6 to 15 in (15-37.5 cm) without
irrigation in mild climates. The pods should not be exposed to rain or
heavy dew after they have turned brown and developed a high sugar
content. Wet pods ferment quickly.
Soil
The tree flourishes in widely
divergent soils, from rocky hillsides to deep sand or heavy loam, but
must have good drainage. In Nicosia, Cyprus, a large plantation was
developed by dynamiting planting holes in caprock underlaid with
limestone (pH 9). The carob is not tolerant of acid or wet soils; it is
extremely drought-tolerant.
Propagation
Fresh seeds germinate
quickly and may be sown directly in the field. Dried, hard seeds need
to be scarified or chipped and then soaked in water or dilute sulfuric
or hydrochloric acid solutions until they swell. In Cyprus, seeds are
planted in sand and kept wet for 6 weeks or more, periodically sifting
out those that have swollen to 3 times normal size. Germination rate
may be only 25%. The swollen seeds are traditionally planted in flats
and when they produce the second set of leaves they are transferred to
small pots. When 12 in (30 cm) tall, they are transplanted to large
containers or nursery rows. A recently developed technique is to plant
the seeds in 2 halves of clay drainpipes bound together or in plastic
tubes packed in deep wooden boxes to accommodate the long taproot. In
perhaps a year, the tubes are split and the seedlings are planted in the
field in holes made with a post-hole digger. Budding is done when the
stem is at least 3/8 in (1 cm) thick.
The shield-budding system is
employed, or sometimes a blend of budding and grafting, in February and
March in Cyprus, in April, May and June in California and Mexico. Male
trees or those that bear poorly are top-worked to productive cultivars.
Culture
The carob grows slowly during
the first year. Stem-elongation in young plants has been expedited by
application of gibberellin (50 mg/liter monthly, or 25 mg/liter
semi-monthly) for 5 months. It is necessary to cut back the taproot 6
months before transferring to the field if the plant is not grown by the
tube/post-hole method. Large trees cannot be successfully
transplanted.
A good spacing is 30 ft (9 in) apart each
way. Most carob growers consider fertilizing unnecessary but the
government of Cyprus subsidizes fertilization–so much per tree.
Irrigation must be provided in very dry seasons if the tree is grown for
its fruits. Budded trees begin to bear in the 6th year from planting.
A carob tree may remain productive for 80 to 100 years.
Harvesting
The pods must be
harvested before winter rains. They are shaken down by means of a long
pole with a terminal hook to grasp the branches. Those that don't fall
readily are knocked off with the pole. The pods are caught on canvas
sheets laid on the ground. Then they are sun-dried for 1 or 2 days
until the moisture content is reduced to 8% or below and then go through
a kibbling process–crushing and grading into 4 categories: cubed,
medium-kibbled, meal, and seed kernels.
Yield
At 6 years of age, a budded tree
in California should yield about 5 lbs (2.25 kg). At 12 years, the crop
should be 100 lbs (45 kg). Productivity increases steadily up to 25 or
30 years when the yield may average 200 lbs (90 kg). In Israel
individual trees have produced 450 to 550 lbs (204-227 kg) 18 years
after grafting. Some ancient trees in the Mediterranean area are
reported to have borne 3,000 lbs (1,360 kg) in a season.
Pests and Diseases
In the Mediterranean area, the major pest is the carob moth,
Myelois ceratoniae. It lays eggs on the flowers or newly-formed pods and the larvae bore into the pods and ruin them. The larvae of a midge,
Asphondylia gennadii, cause stunting of the pods. Some of the best cultivars are resistant to these pests.
In Cyprus, the tree is subject to several scale insects:
Aspidiotus ceratoniae, Lecanium sp., Lepidosaphes sp. and the red scale,
Aonidiella aurantii. A beetle,
Cerambyx velutinus, may
bore holes in the trunk. Rats climb the trees, hide among the
branches, gnaw the bark until the branches die. Such branches are
pruned out twice a year. The only pests reported as attacking carob
trees in California are scale insects, including the red scale. Ground
squirrels feed on plants under 2 years of age. Pocket gophers are very
fond of carob roots, and rabbits and deer graze on the young trees.
Diseases are few. In Cyprus, deformation of young pods may be caused by the fungus
Oidium ceratoniae. Cercospora ceratoniae occasionally induces leaf-spotting.
Food Uses
Apart from being
chewed as a sweetmeat, carob pods are processed to a cocoa -like flour
which is added to cold or heated milk for drinking. It has been
combined with wheat flour in making bread or pancakes. A flour made by
beating the seeded pods is high in fiber and has been utilized in
breakfast foods. The finer flour is also made into confections,
especially candy bars. The pods, coarsely ground and boiled in water
yield a thick, honey-like sirup, or molasses.
The seeds constitute
10 to 20% of the pod. They yield a tragacanth-like gum (manogalactan),
called in the trade "Tragasol", which is an important commercial
stabilizer and thickener in bakery goods, ice cream, salad dressings,
sauces, cheese, salami, bologna, canned meats and fish, jelly, mustard,
and other food products. The seed residue after gum extraction can be
made into a starch- and sugar-free flour of 60% protein content for
diabetics.
In Germany, the roasted seeds have served as a substitute for coffee. In Spain, they have been mixed with coffee.
It
has been demonstrated that the extracted sugars of the pod (sucrose,
glucose, fructose and maltose in the ratio 5:1:1:0:7) can be utilized to
produce fungal protein. Infusions of the pulp are fermented into
alcoholic beverages.
More details: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/carob.html#Pests%20and%20Diseases
Ceratonia siliqua-Carob seeds are available at:
(Min seeds : 50 seeds per pkt)
Seeds are open-pollinated.Organic from Kashmir Himalaya
The Jammu and Kashmir medicinal Plants Introduction Centre
"Ginkgo House", Nambalbal,
New Coloney Azizabad,
Via Wuyan-Meej Road,
Pampore PPR J&K 192121
Mob:09858986794
Ph: 01933-223705
e-mail: jkmpic@gmail.com
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