Most orchids are loved for the beauty of their flowers, but the vanilla orchid is grown for the flavor of its seed pods. There are about 110 species in the Vanilla genus of orchids, occurring worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions, from tropical America to tropical Asia, New Guinea and West Africa. Vanilla planifolia, also known as Vanilla fragrant, is the kind usually grown commercially for use in the food and cosmetic industries. Vanilla is used as a flavoring in many foods and gives a lovely scent to perfumes, lotions, and candles. It is also used pharmaceutical to treat loss of appetite and for flavorings in medicines.
The vanilla orchid is an evergreen plant with a vining habit that can grow up to 300 feet in its native habitat. It climbs up the trunks of trees or poles by using adventitious (aerial) roots, which cling to the tree. It requires warm temperatures and high humidity, and it needs bright light to flower, although it must be protected from direct sunlight. The vanilla orchid is often grown on the trunks of shade trees. The greenish-yellow flowers are produced on long racemes, which usually bear about 20 blossoms but may have up to 100 blossoms each. Each individual flower is open for only a day. The sweetly-scented flowers are pollinated by sting less bees and some kinds of hummingbirds.
Natural pollination occurs in less than one per cent of the flowers. Commercially-grown vanilla is hand pollinated by growers, and a trained pollinator can transfer pollen to 1,500 flowers per day. After pollination, a long, fleshy seed pod develops, which is ripe eight or nine months after flowering. This is the vanilla bean used to make vanilla extract. harvested when fully grown but not quite ripe, then cured and fermented to make vanilla flavoring.
The Aztecs cultivated vanilla, or tlixochitl. They used it to flavor a beverage made from cacao, or chocolate. They also used it as a perfume and a body lotion. The lotion was believed to relieve fatigue, give strength, overcome fear, and make the heart strong.
Spanish adventurers took the chocolate beverage back to Europe, together with the vanilla used to flavor it. The name vanilla came from the Spanish word “vanilla” which means “sheath.” The Badianus Manuscript, sometimes called the Aztec Herbal, was written in 1552 and contains the first reference to vanilla. It discusses the use of vanilla extract to flavor hot chocolate.
Although imitation vanilla extract is cheap and widely available, chefs agree that only real vanilla extract from the vanilla bean gives excellent flavor. Thinking of growing your own? Vanilla orchids can be grown as houseplants, but they rarely flower under home conditions. Given the plant’s potential height, you’re better off buying the extract from the commercially-grown Vanilla orchid!