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BATS, THE CAROB TREE, GALACTOMANNAN and EGYPTIAN MUMMIES

 

• It has a very deep tap root and can live in areas with low rainfall. It does not do well in wet, poorly drained soil. During a drought the tree can still produce fruit. Its fruit can be valuable famine food for people and animals.
• It can live in temperatures that range from 20 degrees F (-6 degrees C) to 122 degrees F (50 degrees C)
• It grows well in poor, salt-rich, rocky, sandy and heavy loam soils.
  

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CAROB TREE, PLEASE.

• The Carob Tree is a member of the Pea Family (Leguminosae or Fabaceae). A few of its many family members are sweet peas, peanuts, soy beans and garden peas.
• Although originally from the Middle East or the Horn of Arabia, the Carob Tree will grow wherever the soil and climate are suitable. It now grows in Australia, California, Arizona, Mexico, South America, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Africa.
• The Carob Tree is evergreen.
• It grows to a height of about 50 to 60 feet (15 to 17 metres).
• The Carob Tree begins to produce fruit when it is 6 to 15 years old. It can live and produce fruit until is is 100 years old.
• Unlike many other members of its family it does not have colourful big flowers. It has very tiny flowers on a stalk that is attached directly to the trunk and limbs of the tree. The flowers take 11 months to develop into a pod that is 4 to 12 inches long.
• The Carob Tree grows wild but it can also be farmed on plantations.
• The Carob Tree requires little or no pruning and can produce fruit without fertilization and irrigation.

Carob flowers and fruit grow out of older branches and main stems of the trees. This botanical phenomenon is known as "cauliflory".

 

WHAT ARE THE OLDEST KNOWN FACTS ABOUT THE CAROB TREE?

ARCHAEOLOGY

Charred Carob Tree wood and seeds have been found in Israel. Their age shows that the tree was growing there before 4000 B.C.

Carob Tree seeds and pods have been found in Egyptian tombs. That dates knowledge and use of the Carob Tree to about 3500 B.C.

THE BIBLE

Biblical scholars believe that Jesus referred to the fruit of the Carob Tree in His parable of the Prodigal Son, who, after squandering his inheritance, was reduced to eating the husks given to animals for fodder.

"And he fain would have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him." Luke XV:16

The Greek word used for husks in Luke 15:16 was "kerati"n" which means "little horn". The fruit or pod of the Carob Tree, a common plant in Bible lands, is often curved like animal horns. In modern Greek the world "keration" means carob pod.

It is also popularly believed that John the Baptist, later known as Saint John, sustained himself in his desert life by eating carob pods. The belief is so well-established that a common name for the Carob Tree is Saint John's Bread.

There is no specific reference in the Bible linking Saint John to the Carob Tree although it would be reasonable to assume that anyone living in the deserts of Israel would eagerly avail themselves of the Carob Tree's nutritious and high energy fruit. However, the reports in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark say that Saint John subsisted on "locusts and wild honey".

"And the same John had his rainment of camel's hair and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey." Matthew III:4

Carob Trees, along with related species in North America, are also called Locust Trees. But does the Bible verse refer to the fruit of the Carob Tree or to locusts, the insects?

In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, the Lord gave Moses clearance to eat "the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind and the beetle after his kind and the grasshopper after his kind." Leviticus XI:21,22. Chapter XI is devoted in its entirety to instructions from the Lord to Moses and Aaron, to be passed on to the Children of Israel, regarding what beasts, fishes and fowls may and may not be eaten. Among a host of unclean animals that may not be eaten (including bats), locusts are approved exceptions.

It seems possible that John the Baptist had both foods, locust insects and Locust Tree or Carob Tree fruit. Locust insects, high in fat and protein, a concentrated source of calories, are excellent nutrition. This fact is supported by many humans who eat them and their relatives with enjoyment. Honey and syrupy sweet carob pods would have been a better balanced diet for John the Baptist when teamed up with crisp, savoury, nourishing locust insects.

Locusts; insect and fruit

DIAMONDS, RUBIES AND GOLD

The modern gem and gold industries are associated with the Carob Tree's ancient history.

An accurate weigh balance is essential for trade. The Sumerians, who lived in what is now Iraq, are credited with the invention of the equal arm balance scale, perhaps 9000 years ago, perhaps 6000 years ago. An equal arm balance scale with weights for weighing gold dust was found in an Egyptian tomb and dated at 3500 years B.C.

Equal arm balance scale with cloth pans, authentic in principle, imaginary in detail. However, elaborately carved balance beams from 500-1250 A.D. exist in museums and collections.

It is believed that some seeds, because of their consistent weight, were used as weights by early merchants to determine the value of precious gems and gold dust. These seeds included carob seeds, wheat grains and perhaps liquorice seeds. The Greek word for the carob pod, "keration" became "carat" and "karat". Weigh terms in grains still exist also. A grain is 1/7000 of a pound, the pound's smallest fraction.

One carob seed, weighing about 200 milligrams, would be balanced by a one carat diamond or ruby. The weight of the modern carat has been standardized at 200 milligrams. Today you could pay 26 thousand pounds or 46,800 dollars for a flawless, top colour one carat diamond which would be 6 millimetres across.

The world's largest flawless cut diamond with top colour, the Centenary Diamond, weighs the equivalent of 273 carob seeds and is said to be insured for 100 million dollars or about 56 million British pounds.

The carat or karat value for gold is still used. It is no longer a measure of weight, but of the amount of gold in an object.

1 carob seed = 1 carat 200 milligrams (Actual size)

A 2 carat diamond ring 400 milligrams (Actual size)

There are many gaps in our knowledge of the ancient history and uses of the Carob Tree. What is stated as fact may require a leap of faith to accept. What is certain is that the Carob Tree has been highly valued by humans and animals for thousands of years.

THAT IS ALL VERY INTERESTING, BUT IT IS CONJECTURAL. I AM READY FOR A LITTLE SCIENCE. TELL ME ABOUT GALACTOMANNAN.

Galactomannan is a complex carbohydrate contained in the endosperm or food bank portion of the carob seed. It is the part of the seed that is processed to become Carob Bean Gum (CBG), also known as Locust Bean Gum (LBG).

That gum is a thickener, emulsifier or stabilizer for many everyday products. It is a very important commercial item.

HOW DO YOU GET GALACTOMANNAN OUT OF A TINY CAROB SEED?

First, the whole carob pod has to be kibbled --

WHAT ARE YOU SAYING NOW, "KIBBLED"? WHAT KIND OF WORD IS THAT?

As far as the origin of the word "kibble", less is known about that than is known about the origin of the word "carob". It first appeared in an English dictionary in 1870 and was defined as "to grind coarsely". It is used to describe the grinding of carob pods and grains such as wheat. The machine that performs the kibbling is a kibbler.

The washed carob pod is kibbled to separate the pod from the 5 to 15 seeds in each pod. When the seeds are removed, the pod is kibbled to various grades for animal feed and even more finely to produce very fine chocolate-like flour that is used in all sorts of carob preparations including expensive biscuit bones for your dog, a beautifying mask for your face or a bar of carob "chocolate".

The real money for the carob pod processor is in the seed. First, the tiny seeds have to be peeled, a difficult process as the seed skins are very tough. That accomplished by acid, roasting or abrasion, the seeds are split. With milling the tiny plant embryo or germ fractures and is separated from the endosperm by sieving. The embryos are ground in a separate process to make a high-protein carob germ.

The endosperm, source of the valuable sugar or carbohydrate, galactomannan, is further processed to produce various grades of the thickener known as Locust Bean Gum or Carob Bean Gum. Spain is the main producer of Carob Bean Gum. Other commercial producers are Portugal, Morocco and Italy.

Enlarged split carob seed Endosperm - white Embryo - green

HOW IS THIS CAROB BEAN GUM USED IN PRODUCTS THAT I USE?

As a thickener. You probably don't realize how much you expect certain everyday foods, pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations to be THICK. Think about it. You don't want runny toothpaste,runny shaving foam, watery baby food or watery canned cat or dog food. Carob Bean Gum is also used in canned soups, salami, cheese, bakery products, dessert fruit fillings, jams and sauces.

In the textile industry the gum from the bean is used to stiffen threads so they can be woven on machines without breaking. It thickens dyes used to print patterns on cloth. That ensures that the outlines of the patterns will be sharp and the colours will be bright.

Other uses for Carob Bean Gum are:

Other uses for Carob Tree products are:

THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO PEOPLE WEREN'T SEPARATING THE ENDOSPERM OF A CAROB SEED FROM THE EMBRYO SO THEY COULD THICKEN CANNED CAT FOOD. WHAT WERE THEY DOING WITH THE CAROB PODS AND SEEDS?

They used the pods for cattle, goat, and pig fodder. The Egyptians had discovered the thickening quality of the seeds because they used it to seal the bindings on mummies.

Today rural methods of kibbling the pods, by hand or by stone wheel still exist,and the product is used for animal fodder. The green young pods can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable and the seeds of the dry pod can be smashed and cooked as porridge. The pod itself is now mainly regarded as famine food for humans.

After World War II rationing still existed in Great Britain and chocolate was in short supply. Some markets sold carob pods and school children ate them as a substitute for rationed sweets.

 

 

SURELY RURAL OWNERS OF CAROB TREES CAN SELL THEIR PODS AND MAKE MONEY?

They can if they are willing to go to the effort of harvesting them. With both privately owned rural trees, wild trees or trees in a commercial plantation, harvesting the pods by human beings is the major bottleneck in efficient modern processing. Carob pods stick tight to their stalks and have to be knocked off with a stick or by shaking the tree. There are mechanical tree shakers and varieties of Carob Trees are being developed with a shape that allows them to be mechanically harvested. Carob Tree harvesting by hand accounts for about one-third of processing costs.

I KNEW THAT CAROB WAS USED AS A CHOCOLATE SUBSTITUTE. I'VE SEEN CAROB BARS IN HEALTH FOOD STORES. WHY EAT CAROB IF YOU CAN HAVE DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE?

Chocolate contains caffeine and theobromin which can have addictive or allergic effects on some people. Carob does not contain either caffeine or theobromin.

You might also want to consider eating carob instead of chocolate, unless it's Free Trade chocolate, for ethical reasons. In 2000 there were reports that thousands of children, ages 9 to 12, were brought in from neighbouring poor countries, including Mali and Burkina Faso, as slaves to work in miserable conditions on the big West African chocolate plantations. That situation has received international attention. The chocolate industry, one of the world's big money-makers, has joined with nongovernmental organizations and governments in a July 2002 initiative, the International Cocoa Initiative, to wipe out child slavery on the plantations by 2005. However, as of February 2004, there is no news of the initiative's progress. Some organizations believe that child slavery on cocoa plantations can only be combated by fair trade practices.

THAT IS A BITTER NOTE. I'LL BUY CAROB BARS OR FREE TRADE CHOCOLATE.

HOW DO CAROB TREES DIFFER FROM CHOCOLATE TREES?

Chocolate Trees (Theobroma cacao) first grew in South America and Mexico. Both trees are evergreen, but Chocolate Trees have a fruit that is shaped like an American football or a rugby ball. The flower and fruit grow directly out of the trunk of the tree, as does the carob flower and fruit.

The pulp of the Chocolate Tree fruit isn't eaten. Chocolate and cocoa are made from the seeds.
As you can see, the seeds are uneven in size, so they couldn't be used as weights as carob seeds were used. But chocolate seeds have an ancient and important history also. The Aztecs (c. 1300 A.D.) used them for money and as late as 1887 chocolate seeds were used by native people to pay their taxes.

A cocoa pod cut to reveal the seeds

There is a chance that Chocolate Trees are pollinated and/or planted by fruit eating bats but so far scientific proof is lacking. That is regrettable, because a bat-chocolate connection would push bats way up in popularity polls.

Chocolate Trees grow best in shade. Midges, a favourite bat food for insect-eating bats, also like shade and are major Chocolate Tree pollinators. The pollinators of Carob Trees haven't been named specifically, they are insects and perhaps wind. A Carob Honey is produced in Peru which suggests bees are a Carob Tree pollinator.

 

DOES THE CAROB TREE HAVE ANY MORE STERLING QUALITIES THAT I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?

Yes.

• The Carob Tree is fire resistant. Villagers in Spain plant Carob Trees close to their homes to slow down the progress of grass fires. Planting Carob Trees among valuable flammable species such as olives and cereal crops gives them protection against fires.
  
• Carob Trees gow well in climates that do not support many fruit-damaging fungi and other "pests". That means that Carob Trees have to be treated with fewer pesticides and less poison goes into carob products.
  
• The Carob Tree has few disease problems.
  
• Carob Tree timber can be turned and carved to make beautiful bowls, vases and sculptures.
  
• Carob Tree timber is used for fuel and for making slow burning charcoal.
  
• Carob Trees provide
  • Watershed protection
  • Windbreaks and shelter belts for buildings and livestock
  • Habitats for wildlife
    
• Carob Trees prevent soil erosion.
  
• Carob Trees aid in land reclamation.
  
• Commercial Carob Tree plantations
  • Help to diversify farm incomes
  • Expand opportunities for local employment
  • Reduce a country's imports of Carob Bean Gum
  • Give the producing country entry into the global Carob Bean Gum sales competition
    
• Wild Carob Trees reseed readily whether the seeds are discarded by bats or dispersed in the feces of coyotes and other mammals. When roadside Carob Trees are thinned and shredded for mulch, young Carob Trees soon spring up. However, in some areas the tree's readiness for life is unwelcome and young trees are regarded as invasive and undesirable weeds. A Southern California University Botanical Garden has identified young Carob Trees as "one of its worst weeds."

 

I CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. YOU ARE SAYING THAT THE HISTORIC, PLANET-PROTECTING, JOB-PRODUCING, NOURISHING AND COMMERCIALLY DESIRABLE CAROB TREE IS CONSIDERED A WEED? PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEED FORESTS OF CAROB TREES GROWING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE. THE TREES WOULD HELP TO SLOW DOWN THE SPREAD OF THEIR ANNUAL DEVASTATING FIRES.

When a living organism, whether beautiful or beneficial, interferes with man's designs, dreams or well-being, it becomes, in human terms, a weed or pest. This happens even when the offending plant or bird or fish or snail or mammal was purposefully brought by man from its native home to a new land.

The Carob Tree grew originally in the Middle East. Spanish missionaries brought carob seeds to Mexico and Southern California in the mid-1800's. Why? For the beauty and shade of the trees, for the animal fodder and human food provided by the fruit.

Despite the Carob Tree's thousands of years of service to the planet and its occupants, despite the endorsements of its usefulness by Egyptian mummifiers, Biblical chroniclers and jewel merchants, despite hosts of satisfied fruit bats, coyotes, cows, pigs, goats, horses, family pets,human babies and adults, the Wildland Invasive Species Team of The Nature Conservancy has issued a WEED ALERT! and defined the errant Carob Tree seedlings in Southern California as "new invaders of unknown character and unknown impact".

 

THE PLANT Order: Fabales Family: Leguminosae or Fabaceae Genus: Ceratonia Species: Ceratonia silqua

THE BAT* Egyptian Rousette   *As documented by observations and in scientific literature

The illustrator thanks Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle of Bat Conservation International, Austin, Texas, for permission to use his photograph of an Egyptian Rousette Bat as source material.

Text and illustrations by Mary Louise Alley-Crosby

2004

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marylouise@batplants.co.uk