Introduction
Vanilla is a natural flavouring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla and is one of the most widely used flavouring ingredients in foods and beverages. The cultivation and processing of vanilla is very labour- intensive because the flowers are hand-pollinated and the pods are hand-picked. Vanilla extract is produced by splitting and soaking the vanilla pods in a mixture of water and ethanol. As a result of the production process, and of the relatively low production volumes world-wide, vanilla is considered the second most expensive spice in the world after saffron.
The high cost and low availability of natural vanilla extract means that much cheaper artificial vanilla extract is readily available. Vanillin is the main component of vanilla extract, but whereas natural vanilla extract contains many additional flavour compounds, artificial vanilla extract is often simply a solution of synthetic vanillin. Due to the high demand and limited supply of natural vanilla, confirmation of quality and authenticity and detection of adulterated sources is of high importance.
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