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Carob trees are seen all over Cyprus, and seem to have a strange looking dried fruit hanging from them. What are they, and what are they used for. Cypriots seem to adore them?
Carob trees are seen all over Cyprus, and seem to have a strange looking dried fruit hanging from them. What are they, and what are they used for. Cypriots seem to adore them?
The Carob tree is a species native to the Mediterranean region and has been cultivated in the area for nearly four thousand years. The centre of origin of the carob tree appears to be the Middle East (Syria and Palestine) and is believed to have been spread by the Greeks to mainland Greece, Cyprus and Italy while the Arabs have disseminated it along the coast of North Africa and finally to Portugal and Spain. In recent times, carob cultivation has reached other Mediterranean-like regions of the world including Australia, California, Mexico, Chile and Argentina. Carob has been used since ancient times in both Greece and Egypt as a food and fuel resource especially during times of drought. As a food source, carob pods could be stored and transported long distances. The pods with their sugary pulp are still a staple in the diet of farm animals. The seeds from the carob are extremely consistent in size and weight and are believed to have been the original gauge for the 'carat' used by jewelers. We may rightly guess that the word carat has been derived from the Latin name of the carob tree.