Vanilla Preparations

#### Vanilla Preparations, use of — In spite of tremendous competition from the inexpensive synthetic vanillin, the various vanilla extracts manage to maintain a sufficient interest to keep their production profitable. The production of 600 to 1400 metric tons of cured vanilla fruits per year is, from the point of view of aroma- effect, only a tiny fraction of the combined world consumption of so-called vanilla flavor extracts based upon vanillin, "ethylvanillin", "vanitrope" (propenyl guaethol, Shulton) and a number of other synthetic vanilla materials. One of the facts to be remembered is that the conventional advertising of vanillin as being 50 times stronger than vanilla (fruits) is just a classic example of miscalculation based upon analytical findings. Vanilla contains about 2% vanillin, but a true 1 = 1 (see **Vanilla Extract**) vanilla extract yields about 8% of the flavor strength of vanillin. Besides, the two cannot be compared directly as flavor materials. Unfortunately, vanilla extracts are adulterated to such an extent that most housewives, bakers, ice cream manufacturers, candy makers, etc. hardly know what true vanilla extract tastes like. In addition, the cost problem has again been to the advantage of the synthetic vanillin. Vanilla Extracts are primarily used in flavors: ice cream, soft drinks, pharmaceutical preparations, chocolate manufacture, tobacco, hard and soft candy, baked goods and household essences (rarely the true extract!), liqueurs (e.g. "crème de cacao a la vanille"), etc. In perfumes, the extracts are often substituted for by absolutes, tinctures or special concentrates. These products lend an unsurpassed richness and depth to many types of sweet-floral or heavy ambre bases, Oriental perfumes, etc., where they blend excellently with sandalwood, vetiver, opopanax, spice oils, etc. The vanilla note can be modified or supported by materials such as zingerone, castoreum tincture, cassione, vanillin, "ethylvanillin", "vanitrope", longoza absolute, ortho-diethoxybenzene, anisalcohol, anisyl formate, veratraldehyde, etc., while heliotropine, isosafrole, cyclotene, frambal, maltol, etc. are definite modifiers which tend to change the typical note of natural vanilla. The tenacity of a true vanilla extract is quite outstanding, and the unusual uniformity of the fragrance all through the very slow evaporation make vanilla extracts highly interesting perfume materials which are, in the author's opinion, not nearly common enough on the perfumers' shelves.