Morphometric and physicochemical characteristics of carob pods in three geographical regions of Morocco
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Morphometric and physicochemical characteristics of carob pods in three geographical regions of Morocco Fatiha Fadel1,2 · Khadija El Mehrach2 · Bouchra Chebli1 · Fadma Fahmi2 · Mohamed El Hafa3 · Oukacha Amri2 · Mohamed Ait Bihi2 · Abdelhakim Hatimi2 · Saida Tahrouch2 Received: 8 July 2020 / Accepted: 25 November 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract In three different regions of Morocco, i.e., the center, north and southwest, pulps and seeds from eight carob trees, Ceratonia siliqua L., were compared in order to characterize and promote the carob tree and its subspecies as new potential development for rural development and soil conservation. Twelve different morphometric parameters of the trees were investigated. The results showed significant differences between the pods of the three regions for most parameters (p = 0.05). The pods and the seeds of the north are thicker, longer and wider for apical, median and basal width and hereby a mass of seeds per pod which are important. The differences between the trees in the three regions showed a clear separation of the northern region of Morocco from the two other regions. Phytochemical study for flavonoids and saponins in the pulps of the trees showed a significant difference between the three regions. However, the difference for total phenols was not significant. The carob pulp of the north was rich in fat and total sugars, while the carob of the center is rich in total nitrogen and total protein. For seeds, the difference was not significant between the three regions in water content, fatty acids and total flavonoids. However, the carob seeds of the southwest Morocco have the highest content of total nitrogen, total protein, total sugars and saponins. Keywords Ceratonia siliqua · Pods · Seeds · Morphometric · Physicochemical analysis · Pulp
1 Introduction The climate in Morocco is both Mediterranean and Atlantic with a hot, dry season associated with cold and rainy and wet periods. The ecogeographic and climatic factors play a significant role in the type of vegetation [1]. Moreover, erosion and desertification cause an annual loss of about 31,000 hectares of vegetation. For the rural populations, forest products are needed, and therefore substantial efforts are devoted to reforestation (10 to 15,000 hectares/ year). However, according the Ministry of Forestry, reforestation failures are very common. Using species known for their adaptation strategies to climate change could
improve the success rate of reforestation operations. Populations of carob tree are widely distributed in arid and subarid area in Morocco (in the Rif and Atlas Mountains and in the valleys of southwestern Anti-Atlas); it plays a great role in the biodiversity of the forest’s ecosystem. Several plants of carob tree from Mediterranean origin have been characterized [2–4]. The carob trees have a great potential for reforestation [5]. To identify the most valuable and suitable subspecies of the carob trees (Ceratonia siliqua L.) for plantation, the morphometric characterization
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