Жеміс бұршақтары мен ландшафтқа арналған киік бұршақ ағашы

Small tree grown for its edible pods and landscaping

The carob ('/k//ær//ə//b/// KARRəb; Ceratonia siliqua) is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit, which takes the form of seed pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and landscapes. The carob tree is native to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. Portugal is the largest producer of carob, followed by Italy and Morocco. In the Mediterranean Basin, extended to the southern Atlantic coast of Portugal (i. e., the Algarve region) and the Atlantic northwestern Moroccan coast, carob pods were often used as animal feed and in times of famine, as "the last source of [human] food in hard times". The ripe, dried, and sometimes toasted pod is often ground into carob powder, which was sometimes used as an ersatz substitute for cocoa powder, especially in the 1970s natural food movement. The powder and chips can be used as a chocolate alternative in most recipes. The plant's seeds are used to produce locust bean gum or carob gum, a common thickening agent used in food processing.

The carob tree grows up to tall. The crown is broad and semispherical, supported by a thick trunk with rough brown bark and sturdy branches. Its leaves are long, alternate, pinnate, and may or may not have a terminal leaflet. It is frost tolerant to roughly
Most carob trees are dioecious and some are hermaphroditic, so strictly male trees do not produce fruit. When the trees blossom in autumn, the flowers are small and numerous, spirally arranged along the inflorescence axis in catkin like racemes borne on spurs from old wood and even on the trunk (cauliflory); they are pollinated by both wind and insects. The male flowers smell like human semen, an odor that is caused in part by amines. The fruit is a legume (also known commonly, but less accurately, as a pod), that is elongated, compressed, straight, or curved, and thickened at the sutures. The pods take a full year to develop and ripen. When the sweet, ripe pods eventually fall to the ground, they are eaten by various mammals, such as swine, thereby dispersing the hard inner seed in the excrement. The seeds of the carob tree contain leucodelphinidin, a colourless flavanol precursor related to leucoanthocyanidins.

The word "carob" comes from Middle French carobe (modern French caroube), which borrowed it from Arabic [[wikt:خروب (kharrūb, "locust bean pod") and Persian khirnub, which ultimately borrowed it perhaps from Akkadian language harūb or Aramaic חרובא ḥarrūḇā. ' Ceratonia siliqua, the scientific name of the carob tree, derives from the Greek κερατωνία keratōnia, "carob tree" (cf. κέρας kéras, "horn"), and Latin siliqua "pod, carob". In English, it is also known as "St. John's bread" and "locust tree" (not to be confused with African locust bean). The latter designation also applies to several other trees from the same family. In Yiddish, it is called באקסער bokser, derived from the Middle High German bokshornboum "ram's horn tree" (in reference to the shape of the carob). The carat, a unit of mass for gemstones, and a measurement of purity for gold, takes its name via the Arabic qīrāṭ from the Greek name for the carob seed [[wikt:κεράτιον (lit. "small horn").

Although cultivated extensively, carob can still be found growing wild in eastern Mediterranean regions, and has become naturalized in the western Mediterranean. and Catalonia (Catalan / Valencian / / Balearic: garrofer, garrofera, garrover, garrovera); Malta , on the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia , in Southern Croatia , such as on the island of Šipan, in eastern Bulgaria , and in Southern Greece, Cyprus, as well as on many Greek islands such as Crete and Samos. In Israel, the Hebrew name is חרוב (translit. charuv). The common Greek name is χαρουπιά (translit. ), or ξυλοκερατιά (translit. , meaning "wooden horn"). In Turkey, it is known as "goat's horn" (keçiboynuzu). The various trees known as algarrobo in Latin America (Samanea saman in Cuba, Prosopis pallida in Peru, and four species of Prosopis in Argentina and Paraguay) belong to a different subfamily of the Fabaceae: Mimosoideae. Early Spanish settlers named them algarrobo after the carob tree because they also produce pods with sweet pulp.

The carob genus, Ceratonia, belongs to the legume family, Fabaceae, and is believed to be an archaic remnant of a part of this family now generally considered extinct. It grows well in warm temperate and subtropical areas, and tolerates hot and humid coastal areas. As a xerophyte (drought resistant species), carob is well adapted to the conditions of the Mediterranean region with just of rainfall per year. After being irrigated with saline water in the summer, carob trees could possibly recover during winter rainfalls. In some experiments, young carob trees were capable of basic physiological functions under high salt conditions (40 mmol NaCl/L). However, a study measuring the 15N signal (isotopic signature) in the tissue of the carob tree did not support the theory that carob trees naturally use atmospheric nitrogen.

The vegetative propagation of carob is naturally restricted due to its low adventitious rooting potential. Therefore, grafting and air layering may prove to be more effective methods of asexual propagation. Seeds are commonly used as the propagation medium. The sowing occurs in pot nurseries in early spring and the cooling and drying sensitive seedlings are then transplanted to the field in the next year after the last frost. Carob trees enter slowly into production phase. Where in areas with favorable growing conditions, the cropping starts 3–4 years after budding, with the nonbearing period requiring up to 8 years in regions with marginal soils. Full bearing of the trees occurs mostly at a tree age of 20–25 years when the yield stabilizes.

The most labour intensive part of carob cultivation is harvesting, which is often done by knocking the fruit down with a long stick and gathering them together with the help of laid out nets. This is a delicate task because the trees are flowering at the same time and care has to be taken not to damage the flowers and the next year's crop. The literature recommends research to get the fruit to ripen more uniformly or also for cultivars which can be mechanically harvested (by shaking).

Carob powder (carob pulp flour) is made of roasted, then finely ground, carob pod pulp.

Locust bean gum is produced from the endosperm, which accounts for 42–46% of the carob seed, and is rich in galactomannans (88% of endosperm dry mass). Galactomannans are hydrophilic and swell in water. If galactomannans are mixed with other gelling substances, such as carrageenan, they can be used to effectively thicken the liquid part of food. This is used extensively in canned food for animals in order to get the "jellied" texture. Carob pod meal is also used as an energy rich feed for livestock, particularly for ruminants, though its high tannin content may limit this use. Historically, carob pods were mainly used for animal fodder in the Maltese islands, apart from times of famine or war, when they formed part of the diet of many Maltese people. On the Iberian Peninsula, carob pods were historically fed to donkeys.

The pulp of a carob pod is about 48–56% sugars and 18% cellulose and hemicellulose. The embryo (20 25% of seed weight) is rich in proteins (50%). The testa, or seed coat (30–33% of seed weight), contains cellulose, lignins, and tannins.

Carob pods are about 1/3 to 1/2 sugar by weight, and this sugar can be extracted into a syrup. In Malta, a carob syrup (ġulepp tal ħarrub) is made out of the pods. Carob syrup is also used in Crete, and Cyprus exports it. In Palestine, crushed pods are heated to caramelize their sugar, then water is added and boiled for some time. The result is a cold beverage, also called kharrub, which is sold by juice shops and street vendors, especially in summer. In Lebanon the molasse is called debs el kharrub (literally: molasse of the carob), but people generally shorten it to debs. The molasse has a sweet, chocolate like flavor. It is commonly mixed with tahini (typically 75% kharrub molasses and 25% tahini). The resulting mixture is called debs bi tahini and is eaten raw or with bread. The molasse is also used in certain cakes. The region of Iqlim al Kharrub, which translates to the region of the carob, produces a significant amount of carob. In Cyprus, the dried and milled carob pods are left to soak in water, before being transferred into special containers out of which the carob juice gradually seeps out of and is collected. The juice is then boiled with constant stirring yielding a thick syrup known as haroupomelo. Although this syrup is frequently sold and eaten as is, haroupomelo is also used as a base for a local toffee like sweet snack known as pasteli. Constant stirring of the carob syrup causes it to form into a black, amorphous mass which is then left to cool. The mass is then kneaded, stretched and pulled until the fair, golden color and toffee like texture of pasteli is obtained.

The carob tree is widely cultivated in the horticultural nursery industry as an ornamental plant for Mediterranean climates and other temperate regions around the world, being especially popular in California and Hawaii. The plant develops a sculpted trunk and the form of an ornamental tree after being "limbed up" as it matures, otherwise it is used as a dense and large screening hedge. The plant is very drought tolerant as long as one does not care about the size of the fruit harvest, so can be used in xeriscape landscape design for gardens, parks, and public municipal and commercial landscapes.

In some areas of Greece, viz. Crete, carob wood is often used as a firewood. As it makes such excellent fuel, it is sometimes even preferred over oak or olive wood. Because the much fluted stem usually shows heart rot, carob wood is rarely used for construction timber. However, it is sometimes sought for ornamental work particularly for furniture design, as the natural shape of the trunk is well suited to the task. Additionally, the extremely wavy grain of the wood gives carob wood exceptional resistance to splitting; thus, sections of Carob bole are suitable for chopping blocks for splitting wood.