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Abstract Polysaccharides in carob fruit, including carob bean gum (also known as carob gum, locust bean gum) and carob fiber, are widely used in industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, paper, textile, oil well drilling and cosmetics. Carob bean gum is a galactomannan obtained from the seed endosperm of carob tree and the fiber is obtained by removing most of soluble carbohydrates in carob pulp by water extraction. Both the gum and fiber are beneficial to health for many diseases such as diabetes, bowel movements, heart disease and colon cancer. This article reviewed the composition, properties, food applications and health benefits of polysaccharides from carob fruit.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of carob fiber on pasta properties. Common wheat flour was substituted with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 g/100 g of carob fiber. Pasta properties including firmness, color, cooking time, sensory analysis, and antioxidant properties were evaluated. The results showed that carob fiber slightly increased the weight increase index and decreased the optimum cooking time. The lightness of pasta strongly decreased with the proportion of carob fiber, from 61.7 to 26.5 and from 55.8 to 38.6 for uncooked and cooked samples, respectively, whereas the total color difference changed from 24.4 to 38.6 and from 9.6 to 17.2, respectively. A linear decrease in pasta cutting force was observed as the proportion of carob fiber increased. The sensory evaluation of pasta showed that the additive decreased scores for pasta smell but increased scores for color evaluation. Carob fiber up to 4 g/100 g of wheat flour had little effect on pasta's overall acceptability and significantly increased total phenolics content and antioxidant activity of samples. Digestion in vitro caused an increase in total phenolics content and antioxidant activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lipid-lowering effect of a carob pulp preparation rich in insoluble dietary fiber and polyphenols was investigated in a noncomparative, open-label pilot study. Over 8 weeks, 47 volunteers with moderate hypercholesterolemia (total cholesterol 232-302 mg/dL) consumed 15 g of carob per day in three products (breakfast cereal, fruit muesli bar, powdered drink) as a supplement to their regular diet. After 4 weeks, reductions of 7.1% in mean total cholesterol and 10.6% in LDL cholesterol were noted; respective decreases after 6 weeks were 7.8% and 12.2% (all P<.001). HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels remained unchanged. Overall compliance was good. Only 3 volunteers (6%) reported a sensation of fullness, which led to 2 of the 3 dropouts. The carob preparation may have value in the dietary treatment of hypercholesterolemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]