Carob pods and leaves contain benzodiazepine receptor agnoists with potential anxiolytic-sedative effects. | GreenMedInfo | Article | Natural Medicine | Alternative Medicine | Integrative Medicine | Consumer Advocacy. Abstract Title: Extraction and purification from Ceratonia siliqua of compounds acting on central and peripheral benzodiazepine receptors. Abstract Source: Fitoterapia. 2002 Aug;73(5):390-6. PMID: 12165334 Abstract Author(s): R Avallone, F Cosenza, F Farina, C Baraldi, M Baraldi Abstract: The presence of molecules with high affinity for central and peripheral benzodiazepine receptors was determined in the pod and leaves of Ceratonia siliqua (carob). Plant Foods for Human Nutrition (Formerly Qualitas Plantarum), Volume 65, Number 1. Carob. Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) FABACEAE, Legume Family Many residents of southern California have seen carob trees (Ceratonia siliqua) planted around town.
Carob is an evergreen tree with pinnately compound leaves (have 2 to 6 pairs of oval leaflets), which can grow to a height of 15 meters and be very handsome. Nevertheless, this species is grown around the world primarily as a food crop, for its sweet and nutritious fruits. Carob is native to the eastern Mediterranean, probably the Middle East, where it has been in cultivation for at least 4000 years. The fruit of carob is a pod, technically a legume 15 to 30 centimeters in length and fairly thick and broad. Most carob used in this country comes from the Mediterranean Region, especially Sicily, Cyprus, Malta, Spain, southern Sardinia, and Italy along the Adriatic Sea. [Return to Economic Botany Menu] Carob. Index | Search | Home | Morton Morton, J. 1987. Carob. p. 65–69. In: Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL. Non-fleshy and bean-like, the carob would not be generally regarded as a fruit, in the food-use sense, except for its sweetness.
Description The tree reaches 50 to 55 ft (15-17 m) in height and at an age of 18 years may have a trunk 33 in (85 cm) in circumference. Origin and Distribution Alphonse de Candolle said that the carob "grew wild in the Levant, probably on the southern coast of Anatolia and in Syria, perhaps also in Cyrenaica. In Spain and Portugal it survives only on their Atlantic coasts. Spanish missionaries introduced the carob into Mexico and southern California. In the Mediterranean region, peasants have virtually lived on the pods in times of famine, but the tree is valued mostly as providing great amounts of pods as feed for livestock, as it is also in the State of Campinas, Brazil. In 1949, Dr. Varieties 'Casuda'-a very old cultivar from Spain. Climate. Carob pulp preparation for treatment of hyp... [Adv Ther. 2001 Sep-Oct.
Carob pulp preparation rich in insoluble fibre lo... [Eur J Nutr. 2003. Effect of Water Extracts of Carob Pods, Tannic Acid, and Their Derivatives on the Morphology and Growth of Microorganisms.