Carob (Ceratonia siliqua): Super Food and Medicine. Literature Update.

Azab, Abdullatif

doi:10.17628/ecb.2020.9.306-312

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Ceratonia siliqua L. (carob tree) is a slowly growing, evergreen, sclerophyll, dioecious species, which is widespread as a native plant in the Mediterranean Basin, although thousands of years of trade by people in the region has meant that this species has become widely naturalized [ 1 , 2 ]. C. siliqua is considered a phylogenetically primitive species of tropical origin that has been cultivated in the Mediterranean area since historic times [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ], and is an economically important plant [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Additionally, it has been used for afforestation in semi-arid regions [ 12 , 13 , 14 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural and Physiological Traits of Compound Leaves of Ceratonia siliqua Trees Grown in Urban and Suburban Ambient Conditions

Papadopoulou

Stefi

Meletiou-Christou

et al. 2023

Plants

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Ceratonia siliqua L. (carob tree) is an endemic plant to the eastern Mediterranean region. In the present study, anatomical and physiological traits of successively grown compound leaves (i.e., the first, third, fifth and seventh leaves) of C. siliqua were investigated in an attempt to evaluate their growth under urban and suburban environmental conditions. Chlorophyll and phenolic content, as well as the specific leaf area of the compound leaves were determined. Structural traits of leaflets (i.e., thickness of palisade and spongy parenchyma, abaxial and adaxial epidermis, as well as abaxial and adaxial periclinal wall) were also investigated in expanding and fully expanded leaflets. Fully expanded leaflets from urban sites exhibited increased thickness of the lamina and the palisade parenchyma, while the thickness of the spongy parenchyma was thicker in suburban specimens. The palisade tissue was less extended than the spongy tissue in expanding leaflets, while the opposite held true for the expanded leaflets. Moreover, the thickness of the adaxial and the abaxial epidermises, as well as the adaxial and abaxial periclinal wall were higher in suburban leaflets. The chlorophyll content increased concomitantly with the specific leaf area (SLA) of both expanding and expanded leaflets, and strong positive correlations were detected, while the phenolic content declined with the increased SLA of expanding and expanded leaflets. It is noteworthy that the SLA of expanding leaflets in the suburban site was comparable to the SLA of expanded leaflets experiencing air pollution in urban sites; the size and the mass of leaf blades of C. siliqua possess adaptive features to air pollution. These results, linked to the functional structure of expanding and expanded successive foliar tissues, provide valuable assessment information coordinated with an adaptive process and yield of carob trees exposed to the considered ambient conditions, which have not hitherto been published.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural and Physiological Traits of Compound Leaves of Ceratonia siliqua Trees Grown in Urban and Suburban Ambient Conditions

Papadopoulou

Stefi

Meletiou-Christou

et al. 2023

Plants

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“…Carob ( Ceratonia siliqua L.) is one of the most important nutritional crops for peoples of the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe [ 1 ]. Carob fruits (named pods or kibbles), contain a wide range of macro- and micronutrients, as well as many other natural products.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

D-Pinitol—Active Natural Product from Carob with Notable Insulin Regulation

Azab¹

2022

Nutrients

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Carob is one of the major food trees for peoples of the Mediterranean basin, but it has also been traditionally used for medicinal purposes. Carob contains many nutrients and active natural products, and D-Pinitol is clearly one of the most important of these. D-Pinitol has been reported in dozens of scientific publications and its very diverse medicinal properties are still being studied. Presently, more than thirty medicinal activities of D-Pinitol have been reported. Among these, many publications have reported the strong activities of D-Pinitol as a natural antidiabetic and insulin regulator, but also as an active anti-Alzheimer, anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory, and is also immune- and hepato-protective. In this review, we will present a brief introduction of the nutritional and medicinal importance of Carob, both traditionally and as found by modern research. In the introduction, we will present Carob’s major active natural products. The structures of inositols will be presented with a brief literature summary of their medicinal activities, with special attention to those inositols in Carob, as well as D-Pinitol’s chemical structure and its medicinal and other properties. D-Pinitol antidiabetic and insulin regulation activities will be extensively presented, including its proposed mechanism of action. Finally, a discussion followed by the conclusions and future vision will summarize this article.

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