Narrative review summarizes carobs' health benefits, indicating their potential as a functional food.
). The aim of this narrative review was to summarise the current scientific knowledge on carobs, regarding their impact on human health and possible associated benefits. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in the electronic database of Medline/PubMed to identify original studies and/or randomised controlled trials (RCTs) reporting on the impact of carobs on different aspects of human health. The review elucidated several potentially favourable effects of carobs, attributed to their rich content of bioactive compounds, such as insoluble fibres, polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, and D-pinitol. The review highlights carobs as a natural functional food rich in bioactive compounds, with evidence from human, animal, and experimental studies suggesting potential beneficial effects on gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, endocrine, reproductive, and metabolic health. However, the strength of evidence varies across outcomes, and further well-designed clinical studies are needed to confirm these findings.
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Bonofilgio et al. (2026) studied this question.
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