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Vanilla Farming: The Way Forward

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 Ar cle

Vanilla Farming:
The Way Forward
Sagar Sanjay Arya Dr. Sangram K. Lenka
PhD Scholar FacultySenior
Member Scientist
Deakin University, Victoria, Australia TERI-Deakin Nano Biotechnology Centre
TERI-Deakin Nano Biotechnology Centre Sustainable Agriculture Division
Sustainable Agriculture Division The Energy and Resources Institute, Delhi, India
The Energy and Resources Institute, Delhi, India

Vanilla: The Flavour of beatitude

Vanilla lavour is obtained from the seed pods of Vanilla
planifolia orchid and is arguably one of the most popular
lavour in the world. This lavour constitutes as an
important ingredient of ice-cream, confectionery, milk,
scent and even liqueur and cordial industry. Thus,
Vanilla lavour forms a whooping multimillion-dollar
industry.
History of Vanilla Vanilla Icecream
From the pre-Columbian Maya to the realms of Aztecs,
vanilla was ascribed as a delicious food ingredient of
back to Europe, where vanilla vines were cultivated in
nobility. It was a classi ied lavour, until the Spanish
botanical gardens of France and England. However, for
invasion on Aztecs in 1519. Spanish rulers were
over 100 years vanilla growers in Europe were unable to
astonished by the new lavour of nobility and sailed

Chronological distribution of Vanilla plant

EDEN HORTI | 20 Vol-2/Issue-3/May-June2019/Karnal


understand its inability to produce the glorious vanilla
seed pods. It was in 1841 on Reunion Island, 30 miles
long volcanic hotspot in Indian ocean, where a 12-year-
old enslaved boy Edmond Albius developed an effective
hand-pollination method for vanilla vines. This
technique resulted in a far- lung spread of vanilla vines
across the globe. From Reunion Island the vines were
sailed to Southern part of Asia and other eastern
countries, where they are now cultivated in abundance.
Madagascar is world’s largest vanilla producing country
with an output of 2,926 tons followed by Indonesia at
2,304 tones. China, Mexico and Papua New Guinea are
among the top producer of vanilla. In India, amongst the
3 southern states Karnataka tops the country’s vanilla
cultivation followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Owing to
the environmental conditions and uncertainties
involved in the vanilla market many Indian farmers
refrained from cultivating vanilla vines. However,
buoyed by the recent surge in vanilla pricing and
assistance provided by nationalised banks, farmers are
now shifting their focus back on the cultivation of vanilla
vines.
Vanilla orchid, lower and pods
It is a climbing orchid belonging to the Orchidaceae
family and is one of the largest families of lowering
plants. According to DNA-based systematics and
phylogenetic studies, vanilla orchid belongs genus
Vanilla, tribe Vanilleae, subfamily Vanilloideae and
family Orchidaceae. Genus vanilla consists of about 110
vanilla species, amongst them three species are
important for commercial cultivation i.e. V. planifolia, V.
tahitensis and V. pompona. V. planifolia originated in
current day Mexico and is most valued amongst the
three species because of its lavour quality. Vanilla
orchids grown in Madagascar, Reunion Islands,
Vanilla lower
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EDUCATE: EMPOWER: EMPLOY
Seychelles and Mauritius are derived from a single
cutting. The vanilla plants that are grown in Reunion
Island, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles are
derived from a single cutting of V. planifolia resulting in
lack of genetic variation. Today, Madagascar is the
largest vanilla producer and together with Reunion
Island accounts for nearly 75% of the world production.
Vanilla beans from Madagascar and rest of the eastern
Africa holds the status ‘Bourbon’ and are considered as
best vanilla beans.
V. planifolia orchid is a perennial vine with green, leshy
and succulent photosynthetic stem. The leaves are
bright green, oblong and are smooth in texture and
adventitious aerial roots growing opposite to every leaf
aid to the lateral support. The roots are symbiotically
associated with endotrophic mycorrhiza which supplies
water and minerals to vanilla orchid. Vanilla vine starts
lowering when it archives approximately 4–5 m long.
The lowers are yellow, bisexual and sprout towards the
top of the plant and survive for only 24 hr after
blooming. Although bisexual, they can’t self-pollinate
but requires human intervention for transferring pollen
from anther to the stigma. Unlike the natural pollinators
in Mexico, vanilla pollens are largely inaccessible to
natural pollinators and was the key issue while
introducing vanilla vine to the rest of the world. Owing
to the shape of lower, it is only accessible by small bees
or hummingbirds with a capacity to penetrate tough
membrane that delineates plant’s pistils and stamen.
Therefore, arti icial pollination is widely used for the
production of vanilla pods.
Vanilla pod is basically a seed capsule and are referred
as vanilla bean. The bean reaches its full size after 10–15
weeks of successful pollination. Mature pods are about
15 cm in length and pale green to yellow in colour. The
pod consists of various tissues i.e. epicarp, mesocarp
and endocarp. The meso-layer covers majority of the
fruit volume and consists of a cavity illed with black
seeds attached to a long narrow funicle. Mature beans
are harvested when they are 8–9 months old. Freshly
harvested pods processed and cured to inhibit the
natural vegetative processes. This prevents microbial
growth and promotes the enzyme responsible for the
formation of lavour constituents. The curing process
varies across the country and thus has a major in luence
on the quality and aroma pro ile of the vanilla extract.
Protected cultivation of vanilla
Like other orchids, vanilla orchid grows best in bright
iltered shade with high humidity. Think of the wild
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Protected cultivation of vanilla orchid
native habitat of vanilla orchid; we can simulate this
growing conditions with a combination of temperature
controls and pampering mists and irrigation.
Favourable temperatures are between 15-21ºC at night,
and 26-35ºC during the day. Vanilla orchids are not frost
tolerant, which means for tropical climatic conditions
we have to use a greenhouse to cultivate these plants.
Additionally, in its native habitat, mature vanilla vine
can grow up to 300 feet or even greater. However, in a
Manual Pollination in vanilla
EDEN HORTI | 22
greenhouse condition it is necessary to keep this vine
length to a manageable 20 to 30 feet. Moreover, growing
vanilla vines horizontally instead of vertical climbing
allows accommodating more vines in less space.
Planting the Vanilla Orchid
One may start germinating vanilla orchid in a 1:1
mixture of bark and potting mix. which is slightly denser
and heavier than most of the orchid growing media. This
media works as an excellent combination for drainage
and supply of nutrients to nourish the plant while the
vine develops. As the vines develop their epiphytic
roots, they will no longer rely on their roots present in
the potting mixture.
Vanilla Plant Care
While the vanilla orchid grows, it requires a sturdy
support system. Usually, in tropical climates under
natural conditions, a large tree trunk ful ils this task. If
we wish to cultivate our vines in a conservatory or
greenhouse, a solid wood trellis can be a better
alternative support for the plant. Moreover, orchid
needs fertigation at least once in every two weeks
during the spring and summer. This fertigation requires
Vol-2/Issue-3/May-June2019/Karnal

Vanilla beans
orchid fertilizer and mist regularly while maintaining
humidity to 80% level.
Due to the absence of natural pollinators, we required to
hand-pollinate the lowers in the late morning with a
chopstick or tiny paint brush. Pollen needs to be
removed from the stamen of one lower and place it on
the stigma of another lower. It is also observed that
pollinator insect access to greenhouse enhances the
chances of successful pollination. Flowers that are
successfully pollinated will wither on the vine rather
than falling off within a day or two. Small green pods
emerge within a week after successful pollination and
eventually elongate to attain a length of 6 inch. These
pods are then ready to harvest after a period of 9-10
months.
Vanilla vines are also affected by numerous plant
pathogens causing various diseases. For instance, root
rot, stem rot, rotten fruits, antraknosa, red rust, etc.
However, different successful methods/techniques are
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EDUCATE: EMPOWER: EMPLOY
devised for managing these pests and pathogens.
Harvesting Your Vanilla Pods
After successful pollination, your three-year-old orchid
will produce green bean-like pods from the month of
October to March. Length of the pod will also signify the
quality of the pods i.e. at least six inches long is
considered to be of good quality bean. The curing
process is laborious involving sweating and drying of
pods, contributing to the premium price of vanilla beans
which are marketed. On a day-to-day basis and at least
for a period of six-weeks, you must wrap the beans in a
blanket at night in order to facilitate moisture
condensation on the pods.
Withering is performed to stop the process of
respiration occurring in the fruit. This process kills the
fruit cells without reducing the enzymatic activity in
them. Withering process is carried out by using boiling
water- illed box (¾) with temperatures between 65-
95ºC. Perform curing in a box closed with lid and keep
sack as its base. Perform natural drying in the sun on
regular basis, in order to reduce the water content up to
25-30% by roasting and aerating.
Following this process, you should keep the now brown
and shriveled pods in a dark and dry place for an
additional period of three months. After this curing
process, you must store the beans in an air tight
container. Then place the dried vanilla beans in the box
coated with paper/thin plastic bag and store at room
temperature and that is ready for sell.
Patience is essential for those who wish to harvest
vanilla pods, as these vines take anywhere from three to
ive years from potting, cuttings, lowering to having a
lot of cured beans.
Vanilla and vanillin market
Although, vanilla is a mixture of 200 compounds, the
principal and characteristic lavour of vanilla comes for
one ingredient i.e. vanillin. Vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-
methoxybenzaldehyde) is the most abundant
compound in the vanilla extract and corresponds to 2.5-
4.5% dry weight of the pod. The current annual
consumption of vanilla pods, extract and vanillin is over
18 million Kg. Production of 1kg natural vanillin
corresponds to pollination of nearly 40,000 vanilla
orchid lowers. Therefore, the cost of natural vanillin is
very high (1200-4000 US$/Kg) and luctuates because
of the unpredictability in the environmental conditions.
Today, only 1% of the vanillin is extracted from
natural source and rest is derived from chemical and
EDEN HORTI | 23
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microbial synthesis routes. Lignin and guaiacol are used
as a starting material for the chemical synthesis of
synthetic vanillin. Though cost effective (15 US$/Kg),
synthetic vanillin is traded as arti icial lavour and thus
face huge consumer dissatisfaction. An interesting
alternative devised by biotech industries is to use
genetically engineer microbes to synthesize vanillin.
Numerous proprietary strains are developed to bio
transform abundantly available starting materials like
glucose, curcumin, eugenol and ferulic acid into vanillin.
Although the gap for the demand and supply of vanillin
is narrowed by chemical and microbial synthesis of
vanillin, the demand and popularity of natural vanillin is
still huge. Reluctance of customers for natural vanillin
from plant sources over synthetic and microbial routes
have now compelled the researchers to resort to plant-
based alternatives.
Future of vanilla lavour
Recent discovery of VpVAN (vanillin synthase) gene that
is essential to carry out the signature step of converting
ferulic acid into vanillin has enabled researchers to
synthesize vanillin in other plants as well. A report on
vanillin producing bioengineered Capsicum (Capsicum
frutescence) cells with VpVAN gene has highlighted the
signi icance of this gene. Ferulic acid is a precursor for
vanillin and is synthesised via phenylpropanoid
EDEN HORTI | 24
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pathway. This pathway runs in almost all the plants and
thus plants with high ferulic content are amenable for
the synthesis of vanillin, if genetically engineered with
VpVAN gene.
Interesting would be to improve the traits of Vanilla vine
i t s e l f . Fo r i n s t a n c e , i n c re a s i n g t h e y i e l d o f
vanilla/vanillin, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses,
enhancing its shelf life, etc. Some of these traits are
monogenic while others are polygenic and are
dif icult to improve by traditional breeding. However,
with the advent of next generation sequencing tools,
the genomic data is becoming easily accessible and
genetic modi ication is also becoming possible in
many plants including orchids. Similarly, molecular
engineering tool like CRISPR/Cas9 will play a major
role in the enhancement of vanillin content in near
future. Through CRISPR/Cas9 system it is possible to
mutate multiple genes in plant genome as well as
introduce multiple genes through homologous
re c o m b i n a t i o n . S i m i l a r a p p ro a c h i s a l re a dy
reported on tomatoes, where CRISPR based editing
has enable the researchers to enhanced lavour,
aroma as well as the sugar content. This concept can
be translated in V. planifolia vines using CRISPR
mediated editing and which can revolutionize the
vanilla industry.
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