North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Naomi" <dragon-star@cableone.net>]

I know how to use apples, peaches pears plum...but what do you do with a
carob pod?  I found the information below.. I think If I lived in a
neighborhood with carob trees I would not be that interested in the pods
either.  Lotta work here.
Naomi


The pod is light- to dark-brown, oblong, flattened, straight or slightly
curved, with a thickened margin; 4 to 12 in (10-30 cm) long, 3/4 to 1 in
(1-2.5 cm) wide, glossy, tough and fibrous. It is filled with soft,
semi-translucent, pale-brown pulp, scant or plentiful, and 10 to 13
flattened, very hard seeds which are loose in their cells and rattle when
the pod is fully ripe and dry. The unripe pod is green, moist and very
astringent; the ripe pod sweet when chewed (avoiding the seeds) but the odor
of the broken pod is faintly like Limburger cheese because of its 1.3%
isobutyric acid content.

The pods must be harvested before winter rains. They are shaken down by
means of a long pole with a terminal hook to grasp the branches. Those that
don't fall readily are knocked off with the pole. The pods are caught on
canvas sheets laid on the ground. Then they are sun-dried for 1 or 2 days
until the moisture content is reduced to 8% or below and then go through a
kibbling process-crushing and grading into 4 categories: cubed,
medium-kibbled, meal, and seed kernel

part from being chewed as a sweetmeat, carob pods are processed to a cocoa
-like flour which is added to cold or heated milk for drinking. It has been
combined with wheat flour in making bread or pancakes. A flour made by
beating the seeded pods is high in fiber and has been utilized in breakfast
foods. The finer flour is also made into confections, especially candy bars.
The pods, coarsely ground and boiled in water yield a thick, honey-like
sirup, or molasses.

The seeds constitute 10 to 20% of the pod. They yield a tragacanth-like gum
(manogalactan), called in the trade "Tragasol", which is an important
commercial stabilizer and thickener in bakery goods, ice cream, salad
dressings, sauces, cheese, salami, bologna, canned meats and fish, jelly,
mustard, and other food products. The seed residue after gum extraction can
be made into a starch- and sugar-free flour of 60% protein content for
diabetics.

In Germany, the roasted seeds have served as a substitute for coffee. In
Spain, they have been mixed with coffee.

It has been demonstrated that the extracted sugars of the pod (sucrose,
glucose, fructose and maltose in the ratio 5:1:1:0:7) can be utilized to
produce fungal protein. Infusions of the pulp are fermented into alcoholic
beverages.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/carob.html
-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Bill Russell
Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 8:52 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Fruit trees in the City

Could this avoidance of free fallen fruit relate to fear of picking up some
disease from the ground, such as E. coli?

Bill, Z5


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Fruth" <jfruth@uslink.net>
To: "NAFEX" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 9:48 AM
Subject: [NAFEX] Fruit trees in the City


>    Los Banos, California's streets are lined with Carob Trees.  Despite 
> the
> many poor folk in the area, no one picks the fruit.  The pods fall on the
> ground and are swept up and dumped.
>
> Jim Fruth
> Brambleberry Farm
> Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
> (218)568-8483 [Store]
> (218)831-7018 [My Cell]
>
> I like the idea.  It seems such a waste not to let some of that urban
> ground produce.  But you're right there will be problems to work
> through.  Around here there are lots of apple trees that aren't picked
> at all.  I guess fruit is just too cheap and convenient at the store.  I
> like the idea of more fruit trees around, especially in needy areas, but
> I'm afraid if more apple trees were planted around here, it would just
> mean more fruit to rot on the ground.  But I bet it would be different
> in a more urban area.
>
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