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Vanilla and vanillin in perfumery

The Aztecs used vanilla to flavour chocolate-based nectar. It is said to contain benefits for fighting fears and anxieties, it provides health and strength.

 

Vanilla in perfumery

Vanilla is a part of the orchid family. In its wild state, it is a climbing liana that can reach around thirty metres in height. Originally from Mexico, it is now cultivated on the islands of Reunion, Madagascar, Mayotte and Java. Its three different botanical forms, Pompona vanilla, Tahitensis vanilla (more floral) and Planifolia vanilla, differ in their scents.

Vanilla Planifolia appeared in Mexico thanks to a small bee, the melipone. Since Edmond Albius found the secret of fertilising the vanilla, the orchid flower has been pollinated by hand with a small stick in all countries.

It takes about eighteen months to obtain its fruit, the black pod that we know. It now comes mainly from Madagascar but also from Mayotte and India.

In Guerlain's Instant Magic, I used Tahitensis vanilla in the development of the fragrance. It is not sweet, much more floral and powdery, more "heliotrope". I discovered it thanks to tasting of vanilla from different origins at Pierre Hermé (Uganda, Mexico, Tahiti, Reunion, Madagascar). Tahitensis vanilla has many facets.

Vanilla is one of the essential raw materials of the amber or oriental facet.

 

 

Processing of vanilla

The fine green vanilla pods only give off their fragrance after a long, traditional process. Fifteen to eighteen months pass between pollination and commercialization. Once harvested, vanilla bean is boiled for three minutes and then put in a blanket for twenty-four hours. Only after being exposed to the sun from morning to early afternoon, on both sides, for a few hours a day during two weeks, they take on their familiar appearance.

They become black, dry and free of bacteria. The vanillas are then sorted by hand, one by one, to ensure that they are dry. After drying in the sun, then in the shade for three months, grading and finally maturing for two to four months, the vanilla is ready.

 

Forms of vanilla

  • Vanilla tincture: to obtain a vanilla tincture, beans cut into small pieces should be macerated in alcohol for at least one month. This technique is hardly ever used today. 
  • Vanilla absolute: vanilla absolute is obtained by extraction of the beans using volatile solvents. 
  • Synthetic products: vanillin and ethylvanillin are synthetic raw materials. These two vanilla notes are much sweeter. 

By mixing vanilla tincture with vanillin or ethylvanillin, the gourmand nectar will bring to the perfume an extreme sensuality in contact with the skin. It will reveal its aphrodisiac power with sensual and gourmand notes.

 

The gourmand note in perfumery

However, it is the vanillin and ethylvanillin molecules that give the gourmand note. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the synthesis of vanillin has been the subject of avid research. Indeed, the extraction of natural vanilla is a long and meticulous process. In addition to being a rare product, this complicated process makes the use of natural vanilla very expensive in perfumery. Vanillin will therefore allow the composition of essential perfumes and revolutionise the taste of ice creams and chocolates.

Reunion Island is still the best producer of vanilla, from which the aroma, vanillin, is extracted. It is a very powerful aroma and fully characterises vanilla.

25,000 tonnes of vanillin are produced per year. It is the most manufactured flavour in the world, far ahead of coffee and chocolate.

Vanillin is a molecule naturally present in the vanilla bean, representing 0.75% to 2% of the mass of the bean. 500 kg of natural vanilla are needed to extract 1 kg of vanillin. The price per kilogram of natural vanillin is between $1200 and $1400, while the price of a synthetic molecule is $15.

 

Who enabled the synthesis of the molecule?

Vanillin was first synthesised in 1874. The German chemists Ferdinand Tiemann and Wilhelm Haarmann found the exact formula for vanillin: C8H8O3. They also discovered two reactions by which this precious molecule could be synthesised: the hydrolysis and oxidation of coniferin. This substance comes from the resin of conifers. This extraction process, although expensive, made it possible to found a company in Holzminden, in the German coniferous forests, Haarman's Vanillinfabrik. This company is now known as Symrise.

 

Other synthesis processes

In 1876, Karl Reimer and Ferdinand Tiemann discovered another way of synthesising vanillin, starting from guaiacol. This process was immediately adopted on an industrial scale thanks to its profitability at Haarman's Vanillinfabrik, which then became Haarman & Reimer Vanillinfabrik.

From 1876 onwards, numerous syntheses of vanillin were discovered. Vanillin is formed from oats, acetyl eugenol (clove molecule), and acetyl isoeugenol.

A derivative of vanillin, ethylvanillin, was synthesised in 1894. This molecule gives off a powerful, gourmet vanilla scent. Ethylvanillin sublimated the perfume Guerlain’s Shalimar in 1921/1925. 

 

Vanilla in legendary perfumes

The surprising vanilla bean is exceptionally rich in aroma. The majestic, fleshy Madagascar vanilla bean is actually not so "sweet". Its enchanting and fleshy warmth is expressed in honeyed, milky, spicy, animal, rum, amber and woody notes.

Vanilla is an enchanter with an undeniable charm, sensual and generous. Its hypnotic scent is an invitation to sin but also to happiness.

It is a raw material that is considered luxurious because it is becoming rarer. Its price can be multiplied by 10 in one year.

Vanilla is present in :

  • Jicky by Guerlain 
  • Tocade by Rochas 
  • Baiser Volé by Cartier 
  • L’heure perdue by Cartier 
  • Man, Black Cologne by Bvlgari 
  • Pink Sugar by Aquolina 

To discover all the subtleties of vanilla and its power of scent, dive into the Vanilla Collection of Sylvaine Delacourte Paris:

A collection that will appeal to vanilla lovers but also to those who say "oh no, I don't like vanilla".

 

Sylvaine Delacourte perfumes

Discover Sylvaine Delacourte's brand with her Orange Blossom, Musk and Vanilla Collections. You can try them thanks to the Discovery Boxes (5 Eaux de Parfum x 2 ml) and rediscover these raw materials as you have never smelled them before.