Like Chocolate, but Different.

Like Chocolate, but Different.

Carob  (aka. Locust Bean; Ceratonia siliqua) is a flowering evergreen tree in  the pea family that has uses for agriculture, ornamental gardening, as  well as for the production of its edible seed pods, from which we get  Carob.
 

The ripe, dried, seed pods are ground into a powder which  is used like chocolate, as it is naturally sweet, doesn’t have the  bitterness of cacao, and has no theobromine or caffeine.
 

The  Carob tree grows to be about 50 feet tall and is a popular street tree  with attractive pinnate green leaves and flowers that are wind or insect  pollinated. If the Carob Tree is not shaped through pruning, it can  form a dense hedge.
 

Strangely, when a Carob tree blooms, they  emit a fragrance similar to human semen, caused partially by the  production of amine compounds. Even stranger, a recent study found that  Carob extracts protected human sperm from oxidative stress and improved  sperm motility, viability, reactive oxygen species, plasma membrane  integrity, mitochondrial membrane potential, and acrosome reaction.
 

The fruit is born in seed pods which take a year to fully mature and are curved or straight, and contain a hard inner seed.
 

The pulp consists of about 90% of the weight of the pod and the seed about 10%.
 

Both  can be eaten, but it is usually the pulp that is dried and sold as  powdered carob, or in chunks. As it is naturally sweet, it is sometimes  used in sweet baked goods as a substitute for chocolate, or just for its  own rite.
 

“Locust Bean gum” is made from the seeds and is a  thickening agent which has a more important commercial use in the food  industry and in trade. Locust Bean gum is used also for replacing fat  & gluten in recipes.
 

Carob is also used for making syrups and beverages, as well as alcoholic beverages.
 

Medicinally,  Carob also has a history of use, and depending on the preparation and  plant part, it can be helpful for seemingly contradictory parts of GI  function. For example, a flour made from the ripe pulp is demulcent and  emollient, soothing to the digestive tract and used for treating  diarrhea.
 

In contrast, the seed husks are considered purgative  and astringent and used as a laxative. Through scientific investigation,  however, Carob is showing good potential for treatment of  neurodegenerative disease, and also exhibiting antifungal,  antibacterial, anti-reflux, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic,  antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, hepatoprotective and antiproliferative  activities.
 

#MedicinalPlants #Ethnopharm #Ethnobotany #theethnobotanicalexplorer #herbalism #carob #chocolate
 

*This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is  not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such  advice or treatment from a personal physician.

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