Vanilla Vanilla planifolia

Common Names
Vanilla
Botanical Name
Vanilla planifolia
Syn. Myrobroma fragrans (Salisbury); V. fragrans
Family
Orchidaceae

Medicinal Uses & Benefits of Vanilla

How to Use| Side Effects | Plant & Garden|

Medicinal Uses: * Culinary/Kitchen
Properties: * Aromatic * Carminative
Parts Used: Fruit (bean)
Constituents: vanillin, vanillic-acid, tannin, sugars, sucrose, malic-acid, eugenol, fiber

How to Use: Vanilla

The long, slender black fruits of Vanilla planifolia are the vanilla “beans” that are one of the most recognized and popular flavors in the world. The vanilla extract we use in cooking comes from the vanilla orchid vine. While vanilla does not have any medicinal properties per se, it does help to improve digestion. Vanilla is often used to flavor less palatable herbal medicines.

Preparation Methods & Dosage :Whole vanilla pods can be used in teas and add flavor to sugar and coffees. Vanilla works well as an ingredient natural potpourri. You can make your own vanilla extract by soaking split vanilla pods in alcohol.

Vanilla Remedies

In the Kitchen: Don't limit your use of vanilla to desserts, but experiment with vanilla in stir frys and fish dishes for a unique flavor. Each bean pod contains small, dot-like beans that can be scraped from the pod with a knife. About 1 teaspoon of beans should be sufficient for most recipes.

Vanilla Side Effects:

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Plant Description

Kohler's Medicinal Plants 1857

Vanilla is is a stout, climbing orchid that grows in tropical evergreen forests by attaching itself to living trees. Orchid growers often train vanilla vine on a greenhouse wall. Vanilla is labor and time intensive, each flower must be hand pollinated to produce a vanilla pod.

Flowers/Fruit/Seeds:Pale yellow-green flowers, followed by pendant capsules containing minute seeds
Plant Class:Climbing evergreen perenial vine
Rhizome:
Leaves:Green, zig-zag stems, fleshly,oblong leaves
Preferred Habitat:Thickets, tropical forests
Flowering Season:Spring
Distribution:Tropics and subtropics. Native to South America, the West Indies and Florida

Regional Traditions :Central and South America *

History and Traditions & Folklore

Vanilla was used as a flavoring by the Aztecs

References:

Works Cited

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