APS_October 2018

C arob

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tion represents an age-old land use system where fruit trees are deliberately grown in the same planting with other crops and/or animals (Makhzoumi, 1997). Today, wild, naturalized, and abandoned cultivated carob trees have become an integral component of the ‘thermo-Mediterranean’ zone which is characterized by dense coastal woodlands of evergreen screlophyllous plant species, and is distributed at low altitudes in all warmer parts of the Mediterranean Basin, especially North Africa and the Near East (Batlle and Tous, 1997; Christodoulakis, 1992; Talhouk et al ., 2001).  The potential multi-use value of carob in the past is still valid today and new uses have proven to be economically important. The carob bean gum extracted from carob’s seeds is widely used today in the manufacture of foodstuffs as a stabilizer, emulsifier, and thickener. The ground up pod is also used as a substitute for cocoa powder. It’s hardwood is used as charcoal in several Mediterranean countries (Abi Saleh et al ., 1996; Corell et al ., 1987). In addition, the adaptability of carob tree to all types of soils at lower and middle altitudes and its resistance to drought, makes it suitable for reforestation (Abi Saleh et al ., 1996; Tous et al ., 2013). Moreover, the species is considered beneficial in associa- tion with low altitude conifer trees because of its tolerance to fires (Talhouk et al ., 2005). In Lebanon, carob grew abundantly on the lower coastal hills to the extent that a region- al district was referred to by the species name ‘Iklim Al Kharroub’ (the carob district), and is cultivated in different agricultural systems, among olive and almond trees, where carob is mainly grafted on the remnant wild forms (Breugel and Stephan, 1999; Talhouk et al ., 2001). By 1914, carob trees were uprooted for the expansion of agricultural alternatives causing a noticeable decrease of their popu- lations, described as consisting of sporadic trees (Abou Nasser, 1963). Today, some cen- tennial carob trees are still found witnessing the long history of this species in the country. Unfortunately, the remaining carob popula-

tions are threatened again by various anthro- pogenic pressures and more particularly by the intensive urbanization activities in the coastal zone, which are causing an alarming destruction of the remnant semi-natural habi- tats where carob thrives.  During the last decade, several afforesta- tion initiatives were undertaken using carob seedlings. Also, several municipalities are investing in carob cultivation in South Leba- non for both ornamental and economic pur- poses. According to the statistic census of the Ministry of Agriculture of Lebanon, carob culture is occupying 241 hectares, mostly lo- cated in South Lebanon (132 ha), with an es- timated average total production of 2000 tons per year. Local production is not sufficient to satisfy the local demand for molasses pro- duction. Therefore, carob pods are regularly imported by carob factories from Cyprus and Greece. Formal data regarding the imported quantities are not available yet.  Usually cultivars are described and breed- ing material is selected on the base of con- ventional phenotypic descriptors that are readily recognizable. In the Mediterranean, carob cultivars were often assessed using pod and seed morphological traits as it was the case in Algarve, Portugal (Barracosa et al ., 2007). Also pod and seed morphological characteristics were used to study the vari- ability within the Tunisian carob germplasm (Naghmouchi et al ., 2009; Naghmouchi et al ., 2009). In Morocco both morphological traits and chemical composition of pods were used for the characterization of carobs (Khli- fa et al ., 2013; Sidina et al ., 2009). More recently, morphological traits of pods and seeds were used to characterize carob popu- lations collected from two Croatian islands (Srečec et al. , 2016).  To date the genetic diversity of carob trees growing in Lebanon has not been sufficiently addressed. Only a few local cultivars were differentiated across the country namely ‘Ahmar’, ‘Makdissi’, ‘Khachabi’, ‘Sandali’ and ‘Barri’, based on a limited number of pod characteristics (Breugel and Stephan,