Does The Vanilla Planifolia Plant Have Any Health Benefits? By: Chelsea Smith

ORIGIN AND DISCOVERY  Vanilla is an orchid in the family Orchidaceae  Originally from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.  Madagascar is the largest producer of vanilla worldwide, followed by Indonesia.  Vanilla was brought to America in the late 18 th century by Thomas Jefferson

VANILLA PLANIFOLIA  Vanilla is the only edible fruit of the orchid family  Vanillin, is the major constituent of vanilla beans and the major contributor to vanilla flavor.  There are many ways vanilla is utilized

3 MOST POPULAR WAYS VANILLA IS UTILIZED #1: Flavoring and Cooking #2: Aromatherapy #3: Medicinal Uses

PRODUCTION OF VANILLA  Vanilla is the most labor-intensive agricultural product in the world.  It takes 4 years for the vanilla plant to first bear fruit  The beans then go through a curing, drying, and resting process for several months.  Alcohol is the most efficient agent for extracting the flavor from the beans. The alcohol is a carrier for the vanilla flavor.

PROCESSING VANILLA  The beans must stay on the vine for nine months before being harvested.  The pods, while green, are harvested by hand just before they burst open  The pods are dipped in boiling water, wrapped in cloths, and laid out to ferment in the sun.  Alcohol and water are circulated over and through the beans to draw out the chemicals that contain the vanilla flavor.  The chemicals extracted from vanilla beans are suspended in a solution of alcohol and water. The typical concentration of alcohol is 35%-40%

VANILLAN  Because Vanillin is very time consuming and expensive to harvest from the vanilla pod, alternative methods of producing Vanillin were researched.

VANILLIN  Vanillin is a catabolic product of ferulic acid degradation  Ferulic acid is a preformed phenolic aromatic chemical that is extremely abundant in nature  Ferulic acid undergoes biocatalytic conversion and is transformed into other useful aromatic chemicals, such as Vanillin

SUGGESTED BENEFITS:  Source of Aromatherapy  Antioxidants  Anti-tumor activity  Calms the stomach  Treats asthma  Treats Congestion and coughs

VANILLA AS A SOURCE FOR AROMATHERAPY  Sloan Kettering hospital  Exposed patients to heliotropin  Those exposed to heliotropin experienced a 63% decrease in anxiety.  This is routinely used in their hospital now.

VANILLA AS AN ANTIOXIDENT  Bhabha Atomic Research Center  Vanillin and tested for its ability to counteract the DPPH radical.  These reactions involved an electron transfer from the antioxidant to DPPH.  It was observed that Vanillin contained antioxidants.

VANILLA CONTAINING ANTI-TUMOR ACTIVITY  Center for Medicinal Plants Research  They examined the effect of vanillin on the growth and metastasis of cancer cells in mice.  It showed significantly reduced numbers of cancer cells in comparison to the controls.  Vanillin inhibited invasion and migration of cancer cells and inhibited enzymatic activity of the cancer cells.  Now Vanillin is being used in the development of drugs that stop the transfer of cancer cells throughout the body.

VANILLA AS A STOMACH SOOTHER  No experiments to prove this claim  However, the smell of vanilla is proven to relieve stress, so a decrease in stress may lead to a calm stomach

VANILLA RELIEVES THE SYMPTOMS OF ASTHMA  Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine  An aromatic diffuser  A steam treatment

VANILLA RELIEVES CONGESTION AND COUGHS  In South Africa, Honey bush is blended with vanilla and bourbon to help sooth a cough or respiratory problems.  Diluted oils from the vanilla plant can be used as a throat spray to help with sore throats. You can combine water and essential oils in a spray bottle and spray directly on the throat.

PROVEN TO BE TRUE OR NOT Antioxidants Anti-tumor activity X Calms the stomach Treats asthma symptoms X Treats Congestion and coughs Source of aromatherapy

SOURCES    _user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C &_v ersion=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=5c2ea40ee21ad2cf454a58ddb6cf623d    