Where is Vanillin Found?

    Vanillin exists naturally in potato peels and wood pulp.  However, vanillin is still considered as a synthetic type of flavoring.  It is extremely similar to vanilla extract, however vanillin will provide a much stronger bite than vanilla beans or the extract.  It’s cheaper than other vanilla based products also; this is why food producers use vanillan in many deserts and sweet wines and liqueurs.  

    Vanillin is synthetically derived from sweet vanilla extract.  The extract is drawn from a plant, the Vanillin Planifolia.  These flower petals are thick and fleshy.  They are extremely fragrant however quite dull in color. The Vanillin Planifolia grows pod-like sacks ranging from six to nine inches long.  It is from these pods that the vanilla extract is found and then commercially manufactured.

Vanillin is also found from the vanilla bean.  When the beans are harvested they are green in color, have no smell and no flavor.  Usually it will take six months of curing, fermenting and drying in order to produce the rich, dark bean.  The purified oil from the bean is vanillin.