Carob Chip - Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology

The carob genus, Ceratonia, belongs to the Fabaceae (legume) family, 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 xerophytic (drought-resistant) species, carob is well adapted to the ecological conditions of the Mediterranean region. Trees prefer well drained loam and are intolerant of waterlogging, but the deep root systems can adapt to a wide variety of soil conditions and are fairly salt-tolerant.

While previously not believed to form nitrogen fixation nodules typical of the legume family, trees have been identified more recently with nodules containing bacteria believed to be from the Rhizobium genus.

Although used extensively for agriculture, carob can still be found growing wild in eastern Mediterranean regions, and has become naturalized in the west. The carob tree is typical in the southern Portuguese region of the Algarve, where it has the name alfarrobeira (for the tree), and alfarroba (for the fruit), as well as in southern Spain (Spanish: algarrobo, algarroba), Catalonia and Valencia (Catalan: garrofer, garrofa), Malta (Maltese: Ħarruba), on the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia (Italian: carrubo, carruba), and in Southern Greece, Cyprus as well as many Greek islands such as Crete and Samos. The common Greek name is (Greek: χαρουπιά, charoupia), or (Greek: ξυλοκερατιά, ksilokeratia), meaning "wooden horn". In Turkey, it is known as "keçiboynuzu", meaning "goat's horn". In Israel it's called "Haroov" (חרוב),known as "life saving tree - kav kharoovin". The various trees known as algarrobo in Latin America (Albizia saman in Cuba and four species of Prosopis in Argentina and Paraguay) belong to a different subfamily, Mimosoideae.

According to FAO, the top 5 carob producing countries are (in metric tonnes (2010):

1. Spain 48,000
2. Italy 25,337
3. Morocco 20,489
4. Portugal 19,400
5. Greece 13,300