Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index For other uses of the word vanilla see vanilla (disambiguation). Vanilla is a flavouring essence prepared from the seed-pods of an orchid native to Mexico, though now widely grown throughout the tropics. The name came from the Spanish word "vainilla", diminutive form of "vaina", which means "scabbard". Though there are many compounds present in the extracts of vanilla, the compound predominantly responsible for the characteristic flavour and smell of vanilla is known as vanillin. 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 (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde): Natural vanilla is an extremely complicated mixture of several hundred different compounds, versus synthetic vanillin which is derived from methanol and is of high purity. However, it may be difficult to determine the difference between natural and synthetic vanilla flavoring. 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, consisting of flavory tiny black grains, are mixed into the preparation. Good quality vanilla has a strong aromatic flavor, but foodstuffs with small amounts of low quality vanilla or artificial vanilla-like flavorings are far more common. One major use of vanilla is in flavouring ice cream: the most common, and thus "default", flavour of ice cream is vanilla. By analogy, the term is used, often as "plain vanilla", in computing for default set up of a system, with no extras or modifications. Since "plain vanilla" ice creams are often almost tasteless, the term "French vanilla" is often used to designate preparations that actually have a strong vanilla aroma, and possibly contain vanilla grains. The species of Orchid that is harvested for vanillin (there are in fact several) is mainly Vanilla planifolia. Additional sources include Vanilla pompona and Vanilla tahitiensis. Most of this genus of one hundred and ten species of vine-like plants have quite large and attractive flowers of green or cream, mostly with a sweet scent. Vanilla was a well 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. 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 insemination of flowers for the Totonac knowledge of preparing the beans. Some connoisseurs still regard the Totonac vanilla as the best. Such is sometimes marketed in gourmet food stores as "Mexican vanilla", although Mexico also produces low quality vanilla that sometimes shares this label. The leaves of the vanilla are thick and leathery, even fleshy in some species, though there are a significant number of species that have become nearly or totally leafless and appear to use their green climbing stems for photosynthesis. Coca-Cola Corporation is the world's largest customer of natural vanilla extract. When New Coke was introduced, in 1984, the economy of Madagascar crashed, and only recovered after New Coke flopped. The reason is because New Coke uses vanillin, a less-expensive synthetic substitute, and purchases of vanilla more than halved during this period. By 2002, the company introduced Vanilla Coke which is Coca-Cola with vanilla flavor. Species of the genus Vanilla (family Orchidaceae, subfamily Orchidoideae or Epidendroideae, tribe Epidendreae or Vanilleae, subtribe Vanillinae) The genus was published by J. Miller in 1754. V. abundiflora J.J.Smith V. acuminata Rolfe V. acuta Rolfe V. acutifolia Lodd. V. africana Lindl. V. albida Blume V. andamanica Rolfe V. angustifolia Willd. V. angustipetala Schlechter V. annamica Gagnep. V. anomala Ames & L.O.Williams V. appendiculata Rolfe V. argentina Hicken V. aromatica Swartz V. axillaris Mill. V. bahiana Hoehne V. bakeri Schlechter V. bampsiana D.Geerinck V. barbellata Reichenbach filius (also V. articulata Northrop) - wormvine orchid V. barrereana Y.Veyret & D.L.Szlachetko V. beauchenei A.Chevalier V. bertoniensis Bertoni V. bicolor Lindley V. borneensis Rolfe V. bradei Schlechter V. calopogon Reichb.f. V. calyculata Schlechter V. carinata Rolfe V. chalottii Finet V. chamissonis Klotzsch (also Epidendrum vanilla Vellozo) V. claviculata (W. Wright) Swartz - green withe V. columbiana Rolfe V. correllii R.P.Sauleda & R.M.Adams V. coursii H.Perrier V. crenulata Rolfe V. cristagalli Hoehne V. cristato-callosa Hoehne V. cucullata Kraenzl.ex J.Braun & K.Schum. V. decaryana H.Perrier V. denticulata Pabst V. diabolica P.O'Byrne V. dietschiana Edwall. V. dilloniana Correll (also V. eggersii Rolfe, V. aphylla Eggers) - Dillon's Vanilla, leafless vanilla, Mrs. Lott's Vanilla V. domestica Druce V. dominiana Hort.ex Gentil V. dubia Hoehne V. duckei Huber V. dungsii Pabst V. edwallii Hoehne V. eggersii Rolfe (also V. aphylla Eggers) V. ensifolia Rolfe V. epidendrum Mirb. V. fasciola Spreng. V. fimbriata Rolfe V. fragrans Ames - French Polynesia V. francoisii H.Perrier V. gardneri Rolfe V. giulianettii F.M.Bailey V. grandiflora Lindl. V. grandifolia Lindl. V. gratiosa Griseb. V. griffithi Reichb.f. - Malaysian V. hallei D.L.Szlachetko & T.S.Olszewski V. hamata Klotzsch V. hartii Rolfe V. havilandii Rolfe V. helleri A.D.Hawkes V. heterolopha Summerhayes V. hirsuta M.A.Clements & D.L.Jones V. hostmanni Rolfe V. humblotii Reichb.f. V. imperialis Kraenzl. - African V. inodora Schiede (sometimes confused with V. mexicana Miller) - Fuchs's Vanilla, Mexican vanilla V. insignis Ames V. kaniensis Schlechter V. kempteriana Schlechter V. kinabaluensis Carr V. latisegmenta Ames & C.Schweinf. V. laurentiana Wildem. V. leprieurii Porteres V. lindmaniana Kraenzlin V. lujae De Wild. V. lutea Wright ex Griseb. V. lutescens Moq.ex Dupuis V. madagascariensis Rolfe V. majaijensis Blanco V. marowynensis Pulle V. methonica Reichb.f. & Warsz. V. mexicana P. Miller (also Epidendrum vanilla Linnaeus, V. aromatica Swartz, V. anaromatica Grisebach, V. vanilla (L.) Britt. ex H. Karst , V. planifolia B. D. Jackson ex Andrews, Myrobroma fragrans Salisbury, V. fragrans (Salisbury) Ames) - Mexican vanilla, Commercial Vanilla, Scentless Vanilla V. microcarpa Karst. V. montagnacii Porteres V. montana Ridley V. moonii Thw. V. nigerica Rendle V. ochyrae D.L.Szlachetko & T.S.Olszewski V. odorata Presl V. organensis Rolfe V. ovalifolia Rolfe V. ovalis Blanco V. ovata Rolfe V. palembanica Teijsm. & Binn. V. palmarum Lindley (also V. lutea Wright sensu Grisebach) V. parishii Reichb.f. V. parvifolia Rodrig. V. pauciflora R. L. Dressler V. penicillata Garay & Dunsterville V. perexilis Bertoni V. perrieri Schlechter V. pfaviana Reichenbach f. (also V. preussii Kraenzlin) V. phaeantha Reichenbach f. - Oblong-leaved Vanilla, Leafy Vanilla V. phalaenopsis Reichenbach f. V. philippinensis Rolfe V. pierrei Gagnep. V. pilifera Holttum - Malaysian V. pittierii Schlechter V. platinilla Hort.ex Gentil V. platyphylla Schlechter V. pleei Portères V. poitaei Reichenbach f. - Poit's vanilla V. polylepis Summerhayes V. pompona Scheide (also V. grandiflora Lindley, V. lutescens Moquille-Tand, V. surinamensis Reichenbach f., V. claviculata Duss, V. planifolia var. gigantea Hoehne) - West Indian vanilla, Guadeloupe vanilla, Antilles vanilla V. ponapensis Kanehira & Yamamoto V. porteresiana D.L.Szlachetko & Y.Veyret V. preussii Kraenzl. V. pterosperma Lindl.ex Wall. V. purusara Barb.Rodr. ex Hoehne V. ramosa J.J.Smith V. reuiziana Kraenzlin V. ribeiroi Hoehne V. rojasiana Hoehne V. ronoensis Hayata V. roscheri Reichb.f. - from KwaZulu-Natal V. rubiginosa Griff. V. rubra Urb. V. ruiziana Klotzsch V. sativa Schiede V. savannarum Britton V. schliehenii Mansf.ex Schlieben V. schwackeana Hoehne V. seranica J.J.Smith V. sereti De Wild. V. siamensis Rolfe V. somai Hayata V. speciosa Boxall ex Naves V. sprucei Rolfe V. sumatrana J.J.Smith V. surinamensis Reichb.f V. sylvestris Schiede V. tahitiensis J. M. Moore - Tahiti vanilla V. taiwaniana S.S.Ying V. tiarei Costantin & Bois V. tisserantii Porteres V. tolypephora Ridl. V. trigonocarpa Hoehne V. uncinata Huber ex Hoehne V. vellozii Rolfe V. verrucosa Hauman V. viridiflora Blume V. walkeriae Wight V. wariensis Schlechter V. weberbauerinan Kraenzlin V. wightii Lindl.ex Wight V. wrightii Reichenbach f. (also V. claviculata Lindley non Swartz, V. palmarum Grisebach, V. lutea C. Wright, V. gratiosa Grisebach, V. palmarum var. grandiflora Cogniaux) V. yersiniana Guillaumin & de Sigaldi V. zanzibarica Rolfe External links Electronic Plant Information Centre at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2003-11-8 This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.