carob fruit

Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is a crop native to the Mediterranean Basin mainly being used as livestock feed, in pharmaceutical industry, and also a valuable source of human food due to the high dietary fibre and sugar contents. In January 2023, one-year-old 'Duraio' carob trees grafted on 'Rojal' rootstock on pots showing dark brown to necrotic lesions on the secondary roots, decline symptoms and leading to the death of some plants, were detected in a nursery located at the Valencian Community region in Spain...

Carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) has been widely cultivated in different parts of the world, particularly in the Mediterranean region, and the tree belongs to the family Leguminosae. Several studies have indicated that carobs and their products can improve human health and help prevent different specific chronic diseases. Carob can considered as functional food due to its high content in dietary fibers, low-fat content, and high content of minerals. Its fruit is a pod containing 10%-20% seeds, and the pods consist of sugars, proteins, crude fibers, minerals, vitamins, polyphenols, vitamins, and lipids...

The carob moth, Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is an important pest of pistachio causing direct damage to nuts during ripening, and in storage. We examined the tritrophic effects of 5 pistachio cultivars, representing the full range of kernel suitability for E. ceratoniae, on 2 larval parasitoids, Habrobracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a gregarious, synovigenic, idiobiont, ectoparasitoid, and Venturia canescens Gravenhorst (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), a solitary, pro-ovigenic, koinobiont, endoparasitoid...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: In Morocco carob fruits are used traditionally to treat hypercholesterolemia, diabetes and related diseases. AIMS: This study was designed to evaluate the hypolipidemic activity of Ceratonia siliqua green pods extract and its fractions in Triton WR-1339 and high fat/cholesterol diet (HFCD) induced hyperlipidemia mice, as well as their ability to prevent lipoproteins oxidation in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was used to determine the phenolic composition of the immature carob pods extract (HWCE)...

The main pathogens affecting the carob ( Ceratonia siliqua ) tree in the Mediterranean basin are described in this overview. The most widespread diseases periodically occurring in carob orchards are powdery mildew ( Pseudoidium ceratoniae ) and cercospora leaf spot ( Pseudocercospora ceratoniae ). The causal agents of "black leaf spots" (e.g., Pestalotiopsis , Phyllosticta and Septoria spp.) are responsible for symptoms similar to those previously mentioned for foliar diseases, but are reported in carob orchards at a negligible frequency...

The carob tree ( Ceratonia siliqua L.) is a significant fruit tree in the Mediterranean region with cultural, biological, and ecological importance. Despite its importance, intraspecific trait variability (ITV) in carob trees has been largely overlooked in previous studies. Understanding ITV and its relationship with environmental conditions is crucial for conservation and breeding programs. In this study, we investigated the variability of carob pod and seed-related traits across different ecological scales in 25 studied populations in Morocco...

The carob tree ( Ceratonia siliqua L.) is currently considered one of the most valuable fruit and forest trees in various fields and sectors of activity. It is a versatile plant, belonging to the Fabaceae family. It is widely used in traditional medicine to treat many diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and gastrointestinal disorders, given that all its parts (leaves, flowers, pods, seeds, wood, bark, and roots) are useful and hold value in many areas. Its importance has increased significantly in recent years...

Ceratonia siliqua L., commonly known as the carob tree, appears in most Mediterranean countries, often cultivated for the collection of its fruits to be used as food for humans and animals. This study was aimed at the phytochemical characterization of two common Cretan C. siliqua cultivars and the biological evaluation of deseeded pod and seed extracts regarding their putative use in cosmetics. Gas and liquid chromatographic techniques were used to assess their essential oil, fatty acid, and carbohydrate profiles...

Carob is botanically called as Ceratonia siliqua and belongs to the Legumes family. The fruit is derived from hermaphrodite trees and hard in shape. The carob contains high sugar contents in pulp, fat in seed and minerals like potassium, calcium, and phosphorus are present in pods. Polyphenols and antioxidants are abundant in leaves and pods. It can be used for enhancing human health due to its high nutritional profile. Carob gum is used in the pharmaceutical industry in the form of pomades, anti-celiac ingredients, pills, and dental paste...

Wheat bread is widely consumed in many Western cultures (>70 kg/ per capita /year) despite the fact that the flour milling process reduces the content of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals resulting in baked goods nutritionally poor. Vinal ( Neltuma or Prosopis ruscifolia ) fruit is an American carob that can be grinded to obtain different fractions such as endocarp, seeds, residue and the whole pod flours. The objective of the work was to analyse the chemical compositions, colour and physical, functional and hydration properties of grinding fractions from vinal ( Neltuma ruscifolia ); and also, study their application in wheat bread and their effect on rheological, textural and organoleptic characteristics...

Carob ( Ceratonia siliqua ) is an exceptional source of significant bioactive compounds with great economic importance in the Mediterranean region, where it is widely cultivated. Carob fruit is used for the production of a variety of products and commodities such as powder, syrup, coffee, flour, cakes, and beverages. There is growing evidence of the beneficial effects of carob and the products made from it on a range of health problems. Therefore, metabolomics could be used to explore the nutrient-rich compounds of carob...

A novel signal-enhanced electrochemical sensing strategy was constructed for quercetin determination with a peculiarly developed poly(chromotrope fb)-modified activated pencil graphite electrode in vegetables and fruits. The oxidation signal of quercetin at 118 mV in an alcoholic solution served as the analytical response. The produced platform, characterized by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, could detect 1...

PURPOSE: This study was planned to determine the effects of carob use on puberty because of the observation of early puberty or pubertal variants due to the long-term use of carob in our clinic. METHODS: Forty-eight Wistar albino rats, on postnatal day 21, were assigned into two groups female (n=24) and male (n=24). Groups were divided into four groups Control, Carob-150, Carob-300, and Carob-600. Ceratonia Siliqua L. extract was given to rats in a 0.5% carboxymethylcellulose(CMC) solution...

This study was designed to investigate, at a laboratory scale, the possibility of valorizing the leftover carob fruits to produce the eco-friendly biopolymer polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) by using the bacterial strain Bacillus paramycoides , which has been isolated from the botanical garden of Skikda University in Algeria. The PHB production was tested under various conditions: a pH of 3-8, temperature range of 30-44 °C, carob extracted molasses concentration of 2-8% v/v, an incubation time of 24-96 h and an agitation speed of 150-300 rpm...

The present study characterizes the oral pharmacokinetics of D-Pinitol, a natural insulin mimetic inositol, in human healthy volunteers (14 males and 11 females). D-Pinitol absorption was studied in (a) subjects receiving a single oral dose of 15 mg/kg ( n = 10), or (b) 5 mg/kg pure D-Pinitol ( n = 6), and (c) subjects receiving D-Pinitol as part of carbohydrate-containing carob pods-derived syrup with a 3.2% D-Pinitol (Dose of 1600 mg/subject, n = 9). The volunteers received a randomly assigned single dose of either D-Pinitol or carob pod-derived syrup...

Carob, the fruit of Ceratonia siliqua L. exerts antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects and could be a useful strategy for the treatment and/or prevention of metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study was to analyze whether supplementation with a carob fruit extract (CSAT+® ), alone or in combination with aerobic training, accelerates the recovery of cardiometabolic health in mice with MetS subjected to a caloric restriction. For this purpose, mice were fed with a high fat (58% kcal from fat)/high sugar diet for 23 weeks to induce MetS...

The widespread use of added sugars or non-nutritive sweeteners in processed foods is a challenge for addressing the therapeutics of obesity and diabetes. Both types of sweeteners generate health problems, and both are being blamed for multiple complications associated with these prevalent diseases. As an example, fructose is proven to contribute to obesity and liver steatosis, while non-nutritive sweeteners generate gut dysbiosis that complicates the metabolic control exerted by the liver. The present work explores an alternative approach for sweetening through the use of a simple carob-pod-derived syrup...

Carob's recognized nutritional and medicinal value next to its unique agriculture importance is associated with an array of social, economic, and cultural activities. The carob fruit is popular for its intense aroma due to the emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The composition of VOCs released from carob fruits changes during ripening, rendering it a non-invasive tool for the determination of the ripening period and freshness of the fruit. Therefore, headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC/MS) was applied to reveal the respective gaseous signal molecules related to fruit maturity...

Carob ( Ceratonia siliqua L.) is an evergreen tree that belongs to the Leguminosae family and grows in the arid and semi-arid regions of the Mediterranean basin. The carob tree is resistant to droughts and salinity, while its deep root systems allow CO2 to sink, mitigating global warming effects. Traditionally, carob has been used to produce animal feed, but for many years, it was excluded from the human diet. Nowadays, agricultural and industrial sectors exploit carob fruit, also referred to as carob pod, and its primary products (i...

Intense research efforts over the last two decades have renewed our understanding of plant phylogeography and domestication in the Mediterranean basin. Here we aim to investigate the evolutionary history and the origin of domestication of the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua), which has been cultivated for millennia for food and fodder. We used >1000 microsatellite genotypes to delimit seven carob evolutionary units (CEUs). We investigated genome-wide diversity and evolutionary patterns of the CEUs with 3557 single nucleotide polymorphisms generated by restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq)...