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How Is Vanilla Essence Obtained?
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If
you love vanilla, you should be wary the next time you say you
hate orchids.
Ice
creams, milkshakes and many other deserts are flavored with
vanilla. Did you know that vanilla is extracted from a flower, the
Orchid? The Aztecs used vanilla to flavor a chocolate drink
called xocoati. Vanilla also has its uses in the perfume industry.
Supply from Madagascar, Comoros, Reunion and from Mexico and
Uganda meets about seventy five per cent of the world’s needs.
Let
us take a look at the plant that gives us this exquisite
fragrance. This plant has a long stem, which is fleshy. It
has aerial rootlets that are used by the plant to attach
itself to trees. Besides these, it also has roots that
penetrate the soil. |
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Orchid
flowers are in bloom for two months every year. However,
each flower that blooms lasts for just a day. The blossoms
are dainty and delicate. Mother Nature has arranged things
in a perfect balance. It is only a small bee found in
Mexico that can pollinate this dainty blossom. However,
leaving the entire responsibility of pollination to a bee
is not wise since it is commercially important. Man
devised a method for artificial pollination of orchid.
As soon as they bloom, the
blossoms are pollinated using a fine wooden needle. The
fruit at the end of all this effort, a bean pod, takes
about a month or a month and a half to grow to its full
length. And then there is the long wait for the bean to
mature. This process takes about nine months. The beans
are harvested when the base of the bean pod turns a golden
green.
At the time of
harvest, the fresh beans have absolutely no aroma. The
characteristic aroma that we are all so fond of is a result of
certain enzymes working on the bean pod while it undergoes the
process of curing. The method traditionally used for curing is
exposing the pod to the sun for ten days. |
A Vanilla Plantation |
At the end of this process, the golden green pods turn a deep
chocolate brown. Then comes the drying spell, during which the
pods are dried in an airy shelter. Once the pods are sufficiently
dry they are graded and packed. The whole process of drying and
curing may take four to five months.
The main criterion that decides the quality of the pod is the
presence of vanillin crystals on the pod. The vanillin crystals
are secreted by hair-like papillae in the lining of the exterior
of the pod. With time, the secretion gets diffused with the help
of an oily liquid that surrounds the seeds.
The cured pods contain vanillin, vanillic acid, oleoresin, sugar,
gum, calcium oxalate alcohol and esters. It is a combination of
all this that gives it the flavor we are familiar with.
However, the process does not end here. Vanilla extract has to be
prepared, which is done by crushing the cured beans and obtaining
the extract with the help of alcohol. Artificial vanilla is made from synthesized vanillin.
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