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Carob processing in Sicily: Technological aspects and products
Abstract
Locust (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is an evergreen tree which is widely cultivated or naturally grown in the Mediterranean area. The species belongs to the Cesalpinaceae subfamily of the family Leguminoseae (syn Fabaceae). The fruits are normally used after crushing to separate seed and pulp, and the seed endosperm is processed to obtain a mucilaginous gum, which is then used in a wide range of commercial food products as a thickener and stabilizer. Contrary to other traditional crops, there is now an increasing demand for the carob dérivâtes produced in the Sicilian province of Ragusa and Siracusa, which represents a potential benefit to farmers and a diversification of farm incomes. Cesalpinia Food preserves and enhances locust crop in Sicily, giving several carob products and byproducts obtained industrially from its beans (pulp, flour from pulp, seed gum, natural carob) and interesting for several purposes, particularly in confectionery, as thickeners and alternative to cacao. This study presents a detailed description of carob processing and its role in product formulation, with particular attention to the traceability system applied to food safety by Cesalpinia Food.
Exotic ambrosia beetles are increasing in Europe due to global trade and global warming. Among these xylomycetophagous insects, Xylosandrus compactus (Eichhoff) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a serious threat for several Mediterranean host plants. Carob trees growing in Sicily (Italy) have been extensively attacked by beetles leading to rapid tree decline. Although X. compactus has been found in Europe for several years, most aspects of its ecology are still unknown. We thus studied the population structure and dynamics of X. compac-tus, together with its twig size preference during a sampling of infested carob trees in south east Sicily. In addition, fungi associated with insects or galleries were isolated and characterized. The results showed that, in this newly-colonized environment and host plant, adult X. compactus overwinters inside twigs and starts to fly and reproduce in mid spring, completing five generations before overwintering in late fall. The mean diameter of carob twigs infested by the beetle varied significantly over the seasons, with the insect tending to infest larger twigs as season progresses. The mean number of adults/gallery was 19.21, ranging from 6 to 28. The minimum temperature significantly affected the overwintering adult mortality. Ambrosiella xylebori and Fusarium solani were the main symbionts associated with the pest in this study. Acremonium sp. was instead recorded for the first time in Europe inside X. compactus galleries. Several other fungi species were also found for the first time in association with X. compactus. Our findings provide useful insights into the sustainable management of this noxious pest.
This study was focused on the analysis of the chemical composition of defatted carob germ flour and the protein isolate. The amino acid composition and the nature of the subunits that compose carob germ proteins were also studied. Isolate was obtained by alkaline extraction followed by isoelectric precipitation of proteins. Results showed that an isolate of 96.5% of protein content was obtained. A high amount of amino acids like glutamic acid, aspartic acid and arginine was detected. Carob proteins were found to be composed by aggregates formed by a 131 and 70kDa subunits linked by non-covalent bonds, and other peptides strongly bounded by disulfide interactions. Both, aggregates and subunits were formed mainly by 100 and 48kDa monomers linked by disulfide bonds. A considerable content of high molecular mass peptides (HMWP) strongly bounded were also found. Proteins became partially denatured and thermally stabilized at acid pH (pH 2). These results could be useful in the study of different functional properties of carob germ proteins, and the application of these proteins as nutritional ingredients in formulated food.
Carob-tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is a sclerophyllous leguminous tree species widely cultivated in whole Mediterranean basin. The fruits (a dry pod) are normally used after crushing to separate seed and pulp, and the seed endosperm is processed to obtain a mucilaginous gum, which is then used in a wide range of commercial food products as a thickener and stabilizer. Contrary to other traditional crops, there is an increasing demand for carob products, which represents a potential benefit to farmers and a diversification of farm incomes. However, current information about the ecology of this crop has not yet been integrated and so there are some doubts about the correct management of natural resources, like water and soil nutrients, in order to improve productivity. These items are particularly important in Mediterranean areas where growth and yield are mostly limited by both climatic and edaphic conditions. In this short communication, some data concerning water and nutrients use (particularly nitrogen) in carob-tree are reviewed.
Improvement of procedures for sehecting easily harvested high-yielding cultivars of carob (Ceratonia siliqua) requires a more methodical system for comparing different trees than Thomson's arbitrary grading scale. The new system described here enables a tree to be evaluated in terms of both pods and kernels. The system is illustrated by reference to sample data from carob orchards in the Mediterranean and California. RESUMÉ L'amélioration des procédés de séléction de cultivateurs de carob de haute production (Ceratonia siligna), facilement récoltés, demande un système plus méthodique pour comparer des arbres différents que celui de l'échelle arbitraire de catégories de Thomson. Le nouveau système, ici décrit, permet l'évaluation d'un arbre du point de vue de la corse antant que de l'amande. Le système est illustré référant à des données d'échantillon des vergers de carob en Californie et à la Mediterranée. RESUMEN Para el mejoramiento de procedimientos para la selección de cultivares de algarroba (Ceratonia siliqua) de alto rendimiento y facilmente cosechados, se requiere un sistema mas metodico que la escala arbitraria de valuacion de Thompson para la comparación de diferentes arboles. El nuevo sistema que aqui se describe permite que un arbol sea evaluado. Tanto en terminos de vainas como de semillas. Se ilustra el sistema con referencia a datos muestrales de huertos de algarrobo en el Mediterraneo y en California.
There are contradicting data in the literature regarding condensed tannins content in carobs. In this study, urea (0.5 g/ml) under reflux conditions increased dramatically the yield of condensed tannins to 17% of dry matter, as compared to 3.5% in acidic methanol extraction. This shows that carob pods are rich source of nonextractable condensed tannins. The effect of PEG in diet rich in carob pods on voluntary feed intake, digestibility and growth in weaning kids was studied during 15 days of balance trials in 24 kids distributed into three dietary treatments. The corn grain and wheat bran components in the control diet (diet 1) were replaced by carob in treatments 2 and 3; treatment 3 was supplemented by 3.3% of PEG of molecular weight-4000. Food intake, diet utilization and growth rate of weaning kids fed a diet containing 52% carob pods were decreased considerably in comparison to kids fed the control commercial diet. Supplementing the kids fed the carob-based diet with PEG increased feed intake, crude protein digestibility and growth to the rate obtained with the control diet. The nutritional experiment highlights the following aspects relevant to all mammals consuming carob pods rich diets: (i) tannins increased the variability in feed intake between days, (ii) hypocholesterolemic effect of carob pods is related to lipid binding capacity of nonextractable condensed tannins in the digestive tract, (iii) supplementing high level of carob pods to animals with normal blood cholesterol level may induce hypocholesterolemia. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
In the food industry, carob powder is used as a cocoa substitute. It consists primarily of sugars (sucrose, glucose, fructose) in addition to tannins, fibers, etc. D-(+)-Pinitol (3-O-methyl-D-chiro-inositol), myo-inositol, and D-(+)-chiro-inositol were isolated from a fermented water extract of carob powder. The concentration of pinitol ranged from 5 to 7.5% of the dry weight of the powder as determined by GC. myo-Inositol and chiro-inositol were minor components with concentrations of 0.5 to 1% and 0.1%, respectively. As pinitol is not present in cocoa powder, it can be used as a natural marker of carob adulteration of cocoa powder. Further investigations, including GC-MS, revealed traces of ononitol (4-O-methyl-myo-mositol), sequoyitol (5-O-methyl-myo-inositol), and bornesitol (1-O-methyl-myo-inositol) to be present in a fermented water extract of carob powder in addition to sorbitol.
The oil and flour of the seed germ of carob bean (Ceratonia siliqua L) were studied. The fatty acid composition included, as main components, palmitic (14·2%), stearic (3·0%), oleic (38·5%) and linoleic (43·6%) acids. Lipolysis with pancreatic lipase shows the following glyceride composition: S3 (0·0%), US2 (2·7%), SU2 (27·9%) and U3 (63·7%). The protein flour was separated into protein classes according to their solubility and molecular weight, and the preparation of an isolate (with more than 90% protein) is described.