Rogač

The carob tree is native to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. It grows up to 15 metres tall, with a broad, semispherical crown supported by a thick trunk with rough brown bark. It is a dioecious species, and both male and female forms are generally required for seed to be produced. The fruit takes the form of long pods that can be 10 to 30 cm long. By weight, the pulp makes up 90% of the pod and the seeds 10%.

Carob powder is made of dried or roasted, then finely ground, carob pod pulp. Carob powder can be used as a substitute for cocoa powder. Carob pods are mildly sweet on their own, being roughly one third to one half sugar by dry weight. Locust bean gum is a galactomannan vegetable gum extracted from the seeds of the carob tree, and it is used as a thickening agent in food technology.

Fifty-six volatile compounds have been identified in carob powder across maturity stages, among them acids, esters, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, furans and alkanes. Acids increase with ripening and dominate the volatile profile at full maturity. The most abundant volatile throughout ripening is isobutyric acid, which is responsible for the characteristic cheesy-acidic-buttery aroma of carob powder. Isobutyric acid is more abundant at higher altitude. Isobutyric acid is also the main odor-active compound of roasted cocoa powder, but in a lower proportion of 28%. The overall volatile profiles of carob powder and cocoa powder are considerably different. Roasting reduces the concentration of isobutyric acid in the kibbles, to an extent that depends on the roasting temperature and duration. The seeds of the carob tree contain leucodelphinidin, a colourless flavanol precursor related to leucoanthocyanidins.

The word carob comes from Middle French carobe, which borrowed it from Arabic.

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