Variation of quality characteristics in Greek and Turkish carob pods during fruit development

The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is widely cultivated in Mediterranean countries including Greece and Turkey. Carob pod is the fruit of carob tree. The present study reports the changes of chemical characteristics of two types (fleshy and wild) Greek and one type (fleshy) of Turkish carob pods during one period harvesting. The content of protein, total polyphenols, fatty acids and sugars, which are substances of vital importance for the evaluation of their food and medicine quality were determined at three growth stages. Sucrose, glucose and fructose were the major sugars identified and quantified in the fruit. In the first growth stage the predominant fatty acid in Turkish carobs was oleic followed by linoleic, palmitic and linolenic fatty acids while in Greek carobs the major acid was linoleic (n-6). During maturation an increase in oleic acid and a sharply decrease in linoleic and linolenic (n-3) fatty acids were noticed in both Greek and Turkish samples. Turkish carobs appeared higher level of total sugars, fructose and sucrose content than the Greek ones in the first growth stage. A higher ratio of total unsaturated / saturated fatty acids was found in Greek than in Turkish mature fleshy carob pods. Our results could aid in the assessment of adequate compositional information for further studies.