Carob

The carob is a slow-growing evergreen tree of the pea family that can live for hundreds of years. Its flat, leathery, dark brown pods grow up to about twenty centimetres long and contain a sweet, sticky pulp around a dozen or so hard, shiny, brown seeds. The seeds are strikingly uniform in size and extremely hard.

The pods are eaten fresh as a chewy, sweet snack or roasted and ground into carob powder, which tastes mild and caramel-like. The seeds themselves are not normally eaten whole; their endosperm is milled into locust bean gum, also known as carob bean gum, a white, odourless powder used to thicken and stabilise foods.

Carob is native to the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, and it was spread westward by ancient Greeks and Arabs. It grows well in hot, dry climates on poor, rocky soils and is now cultivated across the Mediterranean basin, with Spain, Italy, Portugal, Morocco and Turkey as important producers.

The scientific name Ceratonia comes from the Greek keras, meaning horn, for the shape of the pod. The word carat, used for gemstones and gold purity, comes from the same root via Arabic, since carob seeds were once used as a standard of weight in the ancient world.

Carob pods have been eaten in the Mediterranean since antiquity, providing food for people and animals in lean times. Ancient Egyptians are believed to have used carob as a sweetener, and the Greeks and Romans fed it to livestock. The name St John's bread arises from a medieval tradition that John the Baptist survived on the pods in the wilderness, although the locust of the legend may in fact have been the insect.

The uniformity of the seeds made them a unit of mass for jewellers and goldsmiths, and the name carat for the measure descends from this tradition. During the twentieth century carob powder became popular as a caffeine-free alternative to cocoa in health food products.

Industrial interest centres on the seeds. Locust bean gum, extracted from the seed endosperm, was commercialised as a thickener for ice cream, cheese, baked goods and pet food, with the European additive number E410. Today most carob harvested commercially goes to gum production, with a smaller share for powder and syrup. Carob syrup, called pekmez or dibs, remains a traditional sweetener in Cyprus, Malta and the Middle East.

Carob pods are milled into powder, used like cocoa in baked goods, drinks and confectionery, though its flavour is sweeter and less bitter. Carob syrup is a traditional sweetener in Cyprus, Malta, Sicily and the Levant, and the pods are chewed fresh or dried as a snack.

The seed endosperm is processed into locust bean gum, used in ice cream, sauces, cheeses, bakery fillings, gluten-free baking and pet food, where it thickens and stabilises. Pods are also a traditional animal feed. The seeds' uniform weight historically made them a measuring unit for gold and gems.

Carob pod is high in fibre, naturally sweet and free of caffeine, and it contains polyphenols such as tannins. Because of its fibre content, carob products have been studied for effects on cholesterol and digestion, with modest results. Locust bean gum is used in thickened infant formula to help reduce regurgitation, a use that should only follow advice from a paediatrician.

Carob has no theobromine and so is often chosen as a cocoa alternative, but it has its own flavour and is not nutritionally identical to chocolate. Sweetened carob confections are still sugary.