Description and Uses
Ceratonia siliqua (Carob tree) is a
tropical
tree from
South East Europe . It is mainly grown for its
fruit crops
, which have a
long shelf life. The crop is harvested by
hand picking. It starts flowering after
0 -
0 years. The yield will be
20 kg/tree/year, but in its top season there will be a yield of
400 kg/tree/year. Other crop types include;
fruit, timber, fuel, fodder, ornamental, . The
{missing data} is used as
{missing data} . The
fruit is used as "
{missing data} " with
sucrose (50% -
60%) as its significant
phytochemical. There is
carob oil extracted by
steam distillation from the
tree's
seed/nut yielding
3% -
15% oil. The
tree's wood is called
{missing data} and has a density of
810 -
830 kg/m³. Regarding firewood production the
tree's growing speed is
slow, it's energetic value is
4700 ckal/kg and the wood's drying speed is
fast. After
90 years the
tree can be totally removed as it reached its commercial and ecological goal.
Ceratonia siliqua has a lifespan of
500 years.
Environmental limitations
The tree is
10 meters tall with a crown of
7 meters wide. The
tree prefers a planting distance of
700 cm and a row distance of
800 cm. It is
slow growing and
intolerant to shade.
Ceratonia siliqua has a
deep root-system and it has symbiotic associations with the
fungi
(endo-mycorrhiza). It is
able to fix nitrogen moderately with
"Microbacteriaceae bacteria. The name(s) or string of bacteria include(s)
"not applicable ". The
tree's flower-morphology is
hermaphroditic and is pollinated by
bees.
Ceratonia siliqua is
evergreen and
not allelopathic and has
no thorns.
Ceratonia siliqua thrives in an altitude of
0 to
500 meters above sea-level
(tropical). The minimum temperature is
-10°C; optimally between
10 -
40°C. The optimal rainfall is
525
mm/year. Without irrigation the annual rainfall should be between
250 -
550mm (L/m²). The optimal soil-pH is between
6.0 -
9.0 in a soil texture of
sand. To salt it is
a bit tolerant to wind
tolerant and to fire
tolerant.
Pests and Diseases
Ceratonia siliqua is susceptible to the following pests:
. And it's susceptible to the following diseases:
(missing data) ,
,
.
Seed Propagation
Seeds are
orthodox and can be stored for
0 months. There are approximative
7000
seeds/kg. The seeds can be propagated as followed:
{missing data}
