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View crop Data sheet EcoPortCeratonia siliqua
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| BRIEF DESCRIPTION A deciduous or evergreen tree reaching a height of 8-17 m in the wild, but under cultivation it is much smaller. Under unfavourable conditions it may only be a multi-stemmed shrub. The pod may be up to 30 cm long and contain up to 18 seeds. USES Carob gum is the whitish powder obtained from grinding the endosperm of the seeds. The gum has extensive use in the food industry. It stabilizes ice cream, is used in the preparation of cheeses and extruded meat products, improves the water retention properties of drughs, and is used as an emulsifier and stabilizer in dressings and sauces. It is also used in the textile and paper-making industries and it is used in drilling mud to control the water losses and mud viscosity. The seeds can be used as a coffee substitute and the pods can be fed to livestock. The workable wood is used to make furniture and carts. KILLING T The tree tolerates short periods at -7°C, but dies after long periods of -4 to -5°C. Young trees are more easily damaged. GROWING PERIOD Long-lived perennial. Begins to bear pods from the 6th or 7th year (5th or 6th when budded). After flowering, the fruit requires 180-240 days to mature. May live for 100 years or more. COMMON NAMES Carob, St.John`s bread, Locust Bean, Algarroba, Caroubier, Kharoubah, Caroube, Kharuv, Carruba. FURTHER INF Carob is heat and fire resistant, windfirm and termite resistant, it tolerates salt winds, and drought. It requires wide spacing, has a penetrating root system, and is slow growing. Grown at altitudes between sea level and 1000 m. Humidity should be moderate in winter and low in summer. The species is indigenous to the Middle-East and was traditionally grown within the latitudinal range 27-42°N. Non irrigated and grown in semiarid regions, the optimum yield of pods is 7 t/ha, whereas trees that are irrigated or grown in high rainfall areas may yield up to 12 t/ha. The trees are often planted on hillsides above orange groves. Dew is a limiting climatic factor. Frequent wetting of the leaves enhances the spread of leaf diseases and the tree fails as a commercial crop in areas with more than 220 dew nights per year. Mentioned as a useful agroforestry species. |
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| SOURCES (Ceratonia siliqua L.) Sims D (pers. comm.) Roecklein J 1987 pp 248 [USE] Rehm S 1991 pp 220 [USE] Duke J 1981 pp 50-52 317 [DEP, DRA, TEXT, RAIN, TEMP, PH] Philippe J 1969 pp 9 Webb D 1984 pp 125 [RAIN, TEMP, TEXT, PH, DRA, DEP, SAL, LIG Hackett C 1982 pp 106 [FER, PHO, DEP, PH, TEXT, TEMP] National RC 1979 pp 109 INSPIRE species 42 [RAIN, TEMP, TEXT, PH, DRA, DEP, SAL, LIG] Coppen J 1995a pp 43-49 [USE] |