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Vanilla

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Food and agriculture;
Plants

           iVanilla
   Vanilla planifolia
   Vanilla planifolia
   Scientific classification

   Kingdom:   Plantae
   Division:  Magnoliophyta
   Class:     Liliopsida
   Order:     Asparagales
   Family:    Orchidaceae
   Subfamily: Epidendroideae
   Tribe:     Vanilleae
   Subtribe:  Vanillinae
   Genus:     Vanilla
              Miller

   Vanilla is a flavouring derived from orchids in the genus Vanilla. The
   name came from the Spanish word "vainilla", diminutive form of "vaina"
   (meaning " sheath"), which is in turn derived from Latin " vagina".

   A vanilla plantation in a wood on Réunion Island
   Enlarge
   A vanilla plantation in a wood on Réunion Island
   Vanilla planifolia - flower
   Enlarge
   Vanilla planifolia - flower

   The main species harvested for vanillin is Vanilla planifolia. It is a
   native of Mexico, though it is now widely grown throughout the tropics.
   Madagascar is the world's largest producer. Additional sources include
   Vanilla pompona and Vanilla tahitiensis (grown in Tahiti).
   Vanilla is a vine: it grows by climbing over some existing tree, pole,
   or other support. It can be grown in a wood (on trees), in a plantation
   (on trees or poles; possibly alternating with rows of sugar cane), or
   in a "shader", in increasing orders of productivity. If left alone, it
   will grow as high as possible on the support; every year, growers fold
   the higher parts of the plant downwards so that the plant stays at
   heights accessible by a standing human.

   The part of the plant in which the distinctive flavoured compounds are
   found is the fruit, resulting from the pollination of the flower. One
   flower produces one fruit. Vanilla planifolia flowers are
   hermaphrodite: they carry both male ( anther) and female ( stigma)
   organs; however, to avoid self- pollenization (which would tend to
   result in genetic deficiencies), a membrane separates those organs.
   Such flowers may only be naturally pollinated by a specifically
   equipped bee found in Mexico. Growers have tried to bring this bee into
   other growing locales, to no avail. The only way to produce fruits is
   thus artificial pollination.

   A simple and efficient artificial pollination method was introduced in
   1841 by a 12 year-old slave named Edmond Albius on Réunion, then a
   French colony, in the Indian Ocean. This method is still used today.
   Using a bevelled sliver of bamboo, an agricultural worker folds back
   the membrane separating the anther and the stigma, then presses the
   anther on the stigma. The flower is then self-pollinated, and will
   produce a fruit. The vanilla flower lasts about one day, sometimes
   less, thus growers have to inspect their plantations every day for open
   flowers, a labor-intensive task.

   The fruit (a seed pod), if left on the plant, will ripen and open at
   the end; it will then exhaust the distinctive vanilla smell. The fruit
   contains tiny black seeds, which, in ripe fruits, carry the vanilla
   flavour. These black seeds are the tiny black specks found in dishes
   prepared with whole natural vanilla. Vanilla planifolia seeds will not
   germinate in normal soil; they need a certain symbiotic mushroom.

   Growers reproduce the plant by cutting: they cut off parts of the
   plants, plant them in the ground and wait for them to grow new roots.

History

   Vanilla was a highly regarded flavoring in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica,
   and was brought back to Europe (and from there the rest of the world)
   by the Spanish Conquistadors.

   In ancient Mexico the Totonac people were regarded as the producers of
   the best vanilla. The Totonac are from the region that is now known as
   the state of Veracruz ( Papantla, Mexico, holds itself out as the
   origin of vanilla). They continued to be the world's chief producers of
   the flavoring through the mid 19th century. At that time, French
   vanilla growers in Mexico traded their knowledge of artificial
   pollination of flowers for the Totonac knowledge of preparing the
   beans.

   The Coca-Cola Corporation is the world's largest customer of natural
   vanilla extract. When New Coke was introduced in 1985, the economy of
   Madagascar crashed, and only recovered after New Coke flopped. The
   reason was that New Coke used vanillin, a less expensive synthetic
   substitute, and purchases of vanilla more than halved during this
   period.

   The market price of vanilla rose dramatically in the late 1970s due to
   a typhoon. Prices stayed stable at this level through the early 1980s
   due to the pressure of recently introduced Indonesian vanilla. In the
   mid 1980s the cartel that had controlled vanilla prices and
   distribution since its creation in 1930 disbanded. Prices dropped 70%
   over the next few years to nearly $20 USD per kilo. This changed due to
   typhoon Huddah, which struck early in the year 2000. The typhoon,
   political instability, and poor weather in the third year drove vanilla
   prices to an astonishing $500 USD per kilo in 2004. A good crop coupled
   with decreased demand have pushed the market price down to the $40 per
   kilo range in the middle of 2005.
   Chemical structure of vanillin
   Enlarge
   Chemical structure of vanillin

Chemistry

   Though there are many compounds present in the extracts of vanilla, the
   compound predominantly responsible for the characteristic flavor and
   smell of vanilla is known as vanillin
   (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde). Another minor component of vanilla
   essential oil is piperonal (heliotropin). Piperonal and other
   substances affect the odour of natural vanilla.

   Vanilla essence comes in two forms: the actual extract of the seedpods,
   and the far cheaper synthetic essence, basically consisting of a
   solution of synthetic vanillin in ethanol. Natural vanilla is an
   extremely complicated mixture of several hundred different compounds,
   versus synthetic vanillin which is derived from phenol and is of high
   purity.

Stages of production

     * Step 1: Harvest

   The beans are harvested green and immature. At this stage they are
   odorless.
     * Step 2: Killing

   The vegetative tissue of the vanilla pod is killed to prevent it from
   growing further after being harvested. The method of killing the tissue
   varies, but may be through: (1) sun killing, (2) oven killing, (3) hot
   water killing, (4) killing by scratching, or (5) killing by freezing.
     * Step 3: Sweating

   The beans are then held for 7 to 10 days under humid and high
   temperature (45 º to 65 ºC) conditions, often by placing the beans in
   fabric covered boxes immediately after boiling. This allows enzymes to
   process the compounds in the beans into vanillin and other compounds
   important to the final vanilla flavor.
     * Step 4: Drying

   To prevent rotting and to lock the aroma in the pods, the beans are
   then dried, often by laying out in the sun during the mornings and then
   returned to their boxes in the afternoons. When the bean reaches 25-30%
   of its weight in moisture (as opposed to the 60-70% it began the drying
   process with) it has completed the curing process and will exhibit its
   fullest aromatic qualities.
     * Step 5: Grading

   When fully cured the vanilla is sorted by quality and graded.

Uses

                                   2005 Top Vanilla Producers of the World
                                                    (Production in tonnes)
                                      Flag of Madagascar  Madagascar 6,200
                                        Flag of Indonesia  Indonesia 2,399
                           Flag of People's Republic of China  China 1,000
                                                Flag of Mexico  Mexico 189
                                                Flag of Turkey  Turkey 170
                                              Flag of Comoros  Comoros 140
                                                  Flag of Tonga  Tonga 130
                                              Flag of Belgium  Belgium 100
                                                 Flag of Uganda  Uganda 70
                             Flag of French Polynesia  French Polynesia 50
                                             Flag of Réunion  Réunion 35
                                                 Flag of Malawi  Malawi 20
                                             Flag of Zimbabwe  Zimbabwe 10
                                             Flag of Portugal  Portugal 10
                                                    Flag of Kenya  Kenya 8
                                          Flag of Guadeloupe  Guadeloupe 8
                                                                   Source:
                                  UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)

   There are three main commercial presentations of natural vanilla:
     * Whole bean
     * Powder
     * Extract (alcoholic solution; per Food and Drug Administration
       requirements, at least 35% vol. of alcohol)

   Vanilla flavor in creams, cakes and other foodstuff may be achieved by
   adding some vanilla essence or by cooking vanilla beans in the liquid
   preparation. A stronger aroma may be attained if the beans are split in
   two; in this case, the innards of the beans (the seeds), consisting of
   flavorful tiny black grains, are mixed into the preparation. Natural
   vanilla gives a brownish to yellowish colour to preparations, depending
   on concentration.

   Good quality vanilla has a strong aromatic flavour, but foodstuffs with
   small amounts of low quality vanilla or artificial vanilla-like
   flavorings are far more common, since true vanilla is much more
   expensive.

   One major use of vanilla is in flavoring ice cream: the most common
   flavour of ice cream is vanilla, and thus most people consider it to be
   the "default" flavor. By analogy, the term "plain vanilla" or just
   "vanilla" is used as a synonym for "plain".

   In old medicinal literature, vanilla is described as an aphrodisiac and
   a remedy for fevers, but these purported uses have never been
   scientifically proven.

   Methyl vanillin is used by the food industry as well as ethyl vanillin.
   The ethyl is more expensive but has a stronger note. Cook's Illustrated
   ran several taste tests pitting vanilla against vanillin in baked goods
   and other applications, and to the consternation of the magazine
   editors, all tasters preferred the flavor of vanillin to vanilla.

Specific types of vanilla

   Bourbon vanilla is the term used for vanilla coming from Indian Ocean
   islands such as Madagascar, Comoros, and Réunion, which was the name of
   the Bourbon island when artificial pollination was discovered. Some
   people regard the vanilla produced on Réunion Island as the best
   quality.

   Some connoisseurs still regard the Totonac vanilla as the best. It is
   sometimes marketed in gourmet food stores as Mexican vanilla, although
   Mexico also produces low-quality vanilla that sometimes shares this
   label. Be warned that the "vanilla" sold in tourist markets around
   Mexico is not vanilla, but in fact an extract of the tonka bean called
   coumarin. While it smells and somewhat tastes like vanilla, coumarin
   has been shown to cause liver damage in lab animals and is banned in
   the US by the Food and Drug Administration.

   Others regard French Polynesian vanilla as the best, particularly that
   produced on the island of Tahaa.

   The term French vanilla is often used to designate preparations that
   actually have a strong vanilla aroma, and possibly contain vanilla
   grains, but originates from the French style of making ice cream
   custard base with vanilla beans, cream, and egg yolks.

Medicinal use

   Long ago vanilla was used in folk medicine.

   Essential oil of vanilla and vanilin were and are sometimes used in
   aromatherapy.

   A vanilla plantation in open field on Réunion. Note that growers "fold"
   the plant up and down so that the vine extends to manageable height.

   A vanilla plantation in a "shader" (ombrière) on Réunion.

   Flower

   Green fruits
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
