Vanilla Essay

Vanilla beans are diversely useful when it comes to the kitchen. They add flavor to bland dishes while enhancing the taste and aroma of other delicious treats. But have you ever wondered why these beans are as expensive as they are?

The simple answer is that growing these beans is a very time and labor consuming activity. Here we shall look at how Bourbon Madagascar vanilla bean and the likes are grown and harvested.

Planting

are beans in name only. They are actually the plant of the Vanilla Planifolia, an Orchid plant that was primarily found in Mexico. To successfully grow whole vanilla beas a farmer must start by planting such an Orchid plant in richly fertile soil.

In order for the Orchid to grow successfully a humid climate is required. Temperatures should be between 15 and 30 degrees centigrade, while rainfall is needed

Pollination

To successfully grow whole vanilla beans farmers must pay close attention to the plants that grow on the Orchid tree. Beans emerge after blossoms have been pollinated. The Vanilla Planifolia can only be naturally pollinated by Mexican bees known as the Melipona. As these bees cannot exist anywhere except Mexico, most vanilla orchids are manually pollinated.

The blossoms of the Orchid plant are only susceptible to pollination for a few hours, meaning farmers have to check regularly to see which blossoms are ready. A number of artificial pollination methods can be adopted, but they all stem from a process invented by Edmond Albius, which requires the transference of male pollen from the anther to the female stigma using a stick or similar simple device.

Pollination takes place in spring.

Harvesting

Vanilla Orchid plants grow upwards, vine-like. As they grow older they change from a dark brown color to a yellowish green. As with the pollination process, deciding when vanilla beans have fully matured is a long and laborious