Carob Tree

A beautiful tree with dense deep green foliage and hanging pods. The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) is one of the most characteristic plants in the Mediterranean and is native to Kythera. It adapts to many different places and grows from a tall shrub to a tree that can exceed 10 meters.

Kytherians cultivated carob trees and many still exist scattered in the fields. They discerned the wild trees with the thin fruits from the cultivated ones with the long, fat and fleshy fruits. The “ksilokerata” (it means horns made of wood) as the fruits are called in the local idiom, were mainly used as animal feed.

In the summer, the fruits mature and acquire a dark brown color with a pleasant sweet and chocolate taste. The ksilokerata were milled to produce carob flour, which was used in rusks and bread, especially in times of need (as during the WWII occupation).

The term carat comes from the Greek word “keration” (fruit of the carob), because the carob seeds were used for measuring the weight of gold and precious stones. It was believed that the seeds are uniform in size and weight, regardless of external conditions.

Carob is perhaps the most nutritious sweetener either raw, or powdered or as viscous carob molasses. Carob has now been reinstated in the daily diet of many, especially health-conscious individuals. Apart from its fruits, all the other parts of the tree are also used: the wood for furniture and barrell making, the leaves and bark in tanning and dyeing.