Essential Oils: Vanilla Oil

Nothing in this world is greater than a big heaping cone of good vanilla ice cream. So sweet and rich, it attacks your taste buds in a fury, filling you with satisfaction. Okay, perhaps there are a few things that are better, but even you chocolate lovers out there have to admit that it's pretty darn good. If you think the taste is good, someone years ago figured a way to translate that sweet, rich taste into a pleasure for your nose.

Vanilla, or vanilla planifolia, is native to Central America and Mexico. Since the day explorer Hernando Cortes was introduced to the substance by the Aztecs in what is now Mexico City, vanilla has been cultivated around the globe. The main production areas today are in Madagascar, Indonesia, Mexico, Tahiti, Europe and the United States.

Vanilla grows best under filtered sunlight, and because it is a vine, it requires support to grow. The jungles of Mexico fit the description perfectly, but you must be careful with Mexican vanilla because it is not always authentic (more on this to come).

Although other areas of the world have overtaken Mexico as the largest exporter of vanilla, it still holds a special place in its heart for the lone vine. Native people still grow the vines with religious devotion, often having them climb around their house. They make small crafts with the beans that they then hang on the rearview mirror as an air freshener. It is common to find some beans stashed among the extra bed sheets in the linen closet to keep everything smelling good.

The process of extracting the resinoid from the beans is a long and tedious one. Each flower on the vine produces a single bean. These flowers must be pollinated by hand (except in Mexico where small hummingbirds do the job). To do this, workers use small, hand-carved sticks the size of a ballpoint pen refill. Making things more difficult is the fact that each flower will only last for a short time.

The green capsules on the vine are ripe for picking after eight or nine months. Then they must be cured. The pod must be fermented and dried to turn it into commercial vanilla. Freshly picked beans are wrapped in blankets, then straw mats and are placed into an oven for 24 to 48 hours. The beans are then spread out onto mats under the hot sun, where they will 'sweat.' At the end of each day, the beans are taken inside and stored in drums overnight. After several weeks, the beans are moved to mesh racks to begin the drying process. Each bean must be inspected daily to find which ones are ready. After they are properly dried, the beans are stored for at least three months before being shipped.

Natural vanilla is entangled in a struggle to stave off synthetic vanilla. One ounce of synthetic vanillin has roughly the same flavoring power as one gallon of natural vanilla, and the cost is astronomically cheaper. This hasn't meant the end for natural vanilla, however. Recently increased health awareness, the shift of consumers back to natural products, and the increasing gourmet ice cream market (who tend to use all natural products), have kept the use of natural vanilla in check.

Mexico, which was once the undisputed king of vanilla production, has been gaining a reputation as a place not to purchase vanilla oil. Mexican vanilla has been found to be commonly adulterated with extracts from the tonka bean because they have a high amount of coumarin. Coumarin has a scent much like that of vanilla, and it would be difficult for someone without experience to tell the difference. However, coumarin was banned in the United States 1954 by the Food and Drug Administration because they found it caused toxicity of the liver in test animals.

The EU Scientific Committee for Food (SFC) carried out an extensive study review of the toxicology of coumarin in 1994. They concluded that coumarin was carcinogenic in rats when taken orally, and possibly in mice.