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Vanilla is a scented tonic. This herb is believed to invigorate the brain, augment the vigor of the muscles, avert sleep as well as kindle the sexual competence. An infusion prepared with vanilla is effective in treating rheumatism, low varieties of fever as well as hysteria. Vanilla is said to be an aphrodisiac and enhances and excites the reproductive system. In addition, vanilla is extensively used in preparing perfumes, and adding essence to confectionery, tinctures, creams, syrups and so on. Ancient medical texts include mention about vanilla. In these texts the herb is expressed as an aphrodisiac or sex inducing substance as well as a cure for different types of fevers. However, these supposed utilities of vanilla have never been validated by any scientific research. Nevertheless, several scientific studies have demonstrated that vanilla helps in enhancing the intensity of catecholamines (any of a group of chemically related neurotransmitters), including epinephrine now known as adrenaline and dopamine. Vanilla may also be described as a little addictive substance. In-vitro (an artificial environment outside the living organism) trial of vanilla has demonstrated that it is competent enough to obstruct quorum sensing in bacteria. This property of vanilla is significant from the medical point of view as in several bacteria quorum sensing signals operate as a control regarding the capability of a microorganism to spread diseases (virulence). It is important to note that the microorganisms only turn potent when the pointers specify that they have the numbers to defy the host immune system response.
For several hundreds of years, vanilla has been popular for its culinary as well as therapeutic properties equally. Incidentally, medical practitioners as well as cooks around the world value this herb highly for the benefits it offers them respectively. The usage of vanilla in culinary has a long history and is held in high esteem in the culinary world owing to its aptitude to add essence to sweet and sensual desserts like sugar cookies, ice cream, butter creams and puff pastries. The mellow fragrance of vanilla augments the flavor of an assortment of sweet dishes, including puddings, cakes, creams, custards and souffl�s. The essence of vanilla may also be found in a number of chocolate and confectionery items as well as numerous liqueurs, including Galliano and Cr�me de Cacao. Although vanilla has a rich and profound history in culinary, the herbs reputation as a sex inducing substance as well as other herbal benefits are relatively lesser known. In fact, the aphrodisiac and herbal benefit of vanilla dates back to their discovery in Mesoamerica by prehistoric societies who farmed and valued this sweet orchid. In Europe, people in many countries held vanilla in high esteem for its essence, its tradition as a love concoction as well as its therapeutic properties. It is interesting to note that though the conventional remedial uses of vanilla has have long die away, the conventional usage of vanilla has undergone little change. However, contemporary scientific researches have once again brought the therapeutic properties as well as the active elements of vanilla to the light. Basically, there are three major commercial productions from natural vanilla and they include:
Growing vanilla in the vanilla orchids is not only an extremely arduous task, but also involves a lot of labor. The plants normally begin producing vanilla beans only when they are three years old. And when the plants eventually bear flowers, the blooms remain open only for a day and this requires quick and careful pollination within 12 hours of their blossoming. This is easier said than done, for the flowers are blooming daily at different times and the flowering season continues for a number of weeks. After the pollination, it takes complete nine months for the vanilla beans to become mature enough for harvesting. What is more arduous is the fact that individual pods mature at different times and they need to be hand plucked from the vines. This denotes that like in the instance of pollinating the flowers manually over several weeks, the farm workers need to harvest the vanilla beans daily for around three to four weeks every time. After the harvesting is over, it takes another three months to process or cure the vanilla pods before they may be sold in the commercial market. There is no way that the production of pure vanilla extract may be rushed through and this is the primary reason why this liquid spice is so costly even today. The vanilla orchids are perennial plants having around six inches plump foliage that has a yellowish green hue. The vanilla plants have a preference for neutral soil with pH ranging between 6.6 and 7.5. The plants bear flowers during the period between the middle of spring to the latter part of summer, but remain in bloom only for a day. The flowers of the vanilla plant have a tubular shape and are about five inches in diameter. These flowers have different hues - yellow, white or green. All the flowers are manually pollinated within 12 hours of their blooming by the gardeners. Following the successful pollination, the plants bear seed pods that range between 6 inches and 10 inches in length and mature after nine months. The plants can be potted in large containers having sufficient humus. In addition, the potting medium should be well-draining and the soil needs to be blended particularly for the orchids. Care needs to be taken to keep the soil consistently moist all the year around as the vanilla plants detest their roots becoming dry between two watering periods. The vanilla plants are actually vines that require some kind of support to climb and cling on to. Wood or stakes serve as ideal props to support the vanilla vines. The vanilla orchids require extreme humidity and extra effort needs to be made to provide this for the plants to flourish. In addition, they need to be cultivated in such locations where the temperature does not fall below 55�F during the nights. Basically, the vanilla orchids like to grow in the shade for most of the time, but at times they also require some filtered or indirect sunlight. When vanilla orchids are propagated by the stem cutting method, it is a quite simple process. Use a sterilized cutting tool to cut off a portion of the plant at the top having a node with well grown aerial roots just beneath. The cut portion of the plant having aerial roots is then put in a pot or a flat tray containing very damp sphagnum moss. When the new cutting develops fresh roots, it can be potted in any orchid growing container. In case there is a new growth from the original cutting, just cut away the old part or the segment cut from the mature plant and allow the new growth to develop actively as a new plant. It is not very difficult for a beginner to grow the vanilla plant, scientific name V. planifolia. This plant grows best in a greenhouse and also indoors along with other houseplants.
Newly harvested vanilla beans enclose an odorless substance called vanillin glucoside. Following the harvesting of the vanilla beans, this glycoside is broken by means of a labor-intensive fermenting procedure giving up the perfumed free vanillin. The chemical composition of vanillin is 4-hydroxy 3-methoxy benzaldehyde. The completely fermented vanilla beans or fruits enclose approximately 2 per cent vanillin. However, the vanillin content in the fruits varies from plants grown in one region to another. While the vanillin content in Mexico is 1.75 per cent, in Sri Lanka it is 1.5 per cent and in Indonesia it is 2.75 per cent. The crystallized vanillin is usually visible on the surface of the vanilla pods of exceptionally superior quality in the shape of minute white needles known as 'givre' (the French term for 'frost'). In addition to vanillin, which comprises around 85 per cent of the entire volatiles, the vanilla pods also enclose vital fragrance elements such as around nine per cent of p-hydroxy benz-aldehyde and one per cent of p-hydroxybenzyl methyl ether. Some trace elements enclosed by the vanilla pods also contribute significantly to its essence. So far, researchers have been able to recognize around 130 different elements in vanilla extract, including phenol ether, phenoles, carbonyl compounds, alcohols, ester, acids, lactones, heterocyclic compounds and aliphatic and aromatic carbohydrates. It has been found that two stereoisomeric vitispiranes, namely, 2,10,10-trimethyl-1,6- and methylidene-1-oxaspiro(4,5)dec-7-ene, also add to the fragrance of vanilla. However, these substances are found in very diminutive amounts in the vanilla extract. According to traditional perception, the aroma of the Tahiti vanilla is somewhat different from the varieties found elsewhere primarily owing to the presence of about 1.7 per cent vanilline and some extra elements of piperonal (heliotropin, 3,4-dioxymethylenbenzaldehyde) and diacetyl (butandione). However, this perception regarding the aroma of Tahiti vanilla has been challenged when a research conducted on this variety of vanilla showed no sign of any presence of piperonal. However, the researchers found that the Tahiti vanilla enclosed vanillin, anisic acid, anisyl alcohol and little quantities of 3-anisaldehyde as well as the more familiar 4-anisaldehyde. In addition to the above elements, vanilla also encloses 25 per cent of different sugars, 15 per cent to 30 per cent of cellulose, 15 per cent fat and six per cent minerals. The water content in vanilla is around 35 per cent, which is considered to be exceptionally high.
The normal dosage of vanilla to treat different conditions differs in its powder and infusion forms. While eight to ten grains of powdered vanilla is recommended to treat different conditions, the infusion prepared with vanilla is prepared in the ratio of half ounce to one pint of boiling water. Half ounce of this fluid is taken three to four times daily. In order to grind the vanilla pods, they need to be sliced into small parts and blended with four parts of sugar and pulverized in an iron mortar. This pounded blend is later shifted and the remains are powdered after adding more sugar. This process continues till the entire pods are powdered.