What Plant Produces Vanilla

Written by Ivy
What Plant Produces Vanilla? Infact, Vanilla comes from Vanilla Orchid Vanilla planifolia. When we cut vanilla orchid vanilla planifolia, we will find that it contains many small seeds, and the aroma of vanilla comes from lanolin 3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde. 
Vanilla flowers are fragrant and yellow green, and the pollinated pods are the main source of vanilla. Natural pollination is far from meeting the needs. At present, the most common pollination method in the world is artificial pollination.

How long does it take to produce Vanilla?

Vanilla beans gradually grow to the required length in 9-11 months after pollination. It takes three to six months to make green pods into chocolate pods with strong aroma.
The harvested vanilla orchid vanilla planifolia needs to be placed on a wooden box covered with blankets, fumigated with hot water (60-63 ℃) in the box and then exposed to the sun, so as to stimulate the production of vanillin in vanilla orchid vanilla planifolia.
After manual grading and classification, the dried vanilla orchid vanilla planifolia will be sealed in a wooden box to complete the final manufacturing process.
At this time, like wine making, vanilla orchid vanilla planifolia entered the key link of aroma formation: vanillin will generate white crystals inside and on the surface of the pod, forming the main source of vanilla aroma. (Read More about caring for vanilla planifolia.)

How should we choose vanilla orchid vanilla planifolia?

The length largely reflects the growth of vanilla. Generally, the longer the length, the better the quality. If the length is more than 22cm, it is the best. 20-22cm is the first-class product, and below 14cm is the defective product.
Generally speaking, there are about 5g black beans in a plump pod, generally 30000 to 50000, and more than 100000.
Vanilla pods generally become dry and hard if they are stored for too long or poorly kept. Sometimes it is not easy to cut them with a knife. When we buy them, we should touch the pods first. The fresh pods will be softer and the smell will be more natural.
According to the order of quality from high to low, they are black fragrant pod, red brown fragrant pod and red fragrant pod. Black fragrant pod has the best quality, with thin and shiny skin, but it should be noted that it will not be very greasy. It may be fake. It will be stained with brown juice on your hand, and the fragrance will not dissipate for a long time.
Vanillin in vanilla will form crystals due to volatilization, so seeing colorless or light yellow crystals proves that vanilla is true. Of course, the more is not the better. If the outer layer of the whole vanilla orchid vanilla planifolia is covered with white crystals, it proves that it has been stored for more than 2 years.
In addition, if the crystal particles are too large, it indicates that the picking time of vanilla orchid vanilla planifolia is over and ripe. Vanilla orchid vanilla planifolia has cracked. Because these particles will fall during the production process, too mature vanilla is also a defective product.