[OGD] Vanilla tahitensis
Vanilla tahitensis... existe sólo en cultivo; nunca se han encontrado poblaciones silvestres... un equipo de investigadores dirigidos por Pesach Lubinsky (de la Universidad de California en Riverside)... emplean análisis genéticos y etnohistóricos para sostener que la vainilla tahitiana comenzó su viaje evolutivo como un cultivar maya precolombino en el interior de los bosques tropicales de Guatemala. El análisis de ADN corrobora lo que las fuentes históricas dicen:.. la vainilla fue un producto comercial llevado por marineros franceses a Tahití a mediados del siglo XIX. El almirante francés responsable de la introducción de la vainilla en Tahití, Alphonse Hamelin, empleó vainilla procedente de Filipinas. Los registros históricos nos cuentan que la vainilla (que no es nativa de Filipinas) fue introducida con anterioridad en esa región mediante el comercio de los galeones de Manila, desde América, y específicamente desde Guatemala. Los galeones de Manila (1565-1815) fueron barcos mercantes españoles que navegaban una o dos veces al año a través del Océano Pacífico entre Manila (en las Filipinas) y Acapulco (en México). Los barcos transportaban porcelana china, seda, marfil, especias, y otros bienes exóticos a México para su intercambio por plata de América. Los datos genéticos que obtuvieron Lubinsky y sus colegas confirmaron que los parientes más cercanos a la vainilla tahitiana, de entre las 40 especies diferentes analizadas del género Vanilla procedentes de diversas partes del mundo, fueron dos especies que crecen, de manera silvestre, sólo en los bosques tropicales de América Central: ... Vanilla planifolia y... Vanilla odorata. ... V. planifolia es... la principal especie cultivada para obtener la vainilla comercial, figurando Madagascar e Indonesia entre las naciones de mayor producción. La V. odorata casi nunca ha sido cultivada, sobre todo de manera específica e intencionada. ... aún disponiendo de estos datos genéticos, los investigadores se enfrentaban a un rompecabezas. No encontraron a la vainilla tahitiana creciendo en estado silvestre en Guatemala, donde crecen sus parientes más próximas. Los investigadores decidieron dar un segundo vistazo a los datos genéticos. Esta vez, comparando patrones de parentesco en secuencias de ADN tanto del núcleo como de los cloroplastos, descubrieron que la vainilla tahitiana encaja con el perfil que cabría esperar de una descendiente híbrida de... V. planifolia y... V. odorata. Ambas especies progenitoras eran cultivadas por los mayas, lo que condujo a la creación de la especie híbrida. URL : http://www.amazings.com/ciencia/noticias/220908e.html ** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla / pollination
un jeune esclave noir de lîle Bourbon (La Réunion)... inventa, en 1841, la fécondation artificielle... La vanille... à Tahiti. Ses premiers crus (tahaa, bora-bora et raiatea) équivalent par leur renommée à ceux des vins du Bordelais. La raison de cette suprématie réside dans la gousse de la Vanilla tahitensis,... la seule à ne pas se fendre avant maturité [!!!???] , permettant ainsi à lalchimie végétale dachever la fabrication de nombreux arômes complémentaires de la vanilline. ... mulâtresse, engendrée par lunion de deux espèces de vanilliers qui ont débarqué sur lîle dans les bagages de deux amiraux, vers 1850... Le vanillier est une orchidée native de la forêt mexicaine [and that of other countries], cultivée durant plusieurs siècles par les Indiens... avant que les Espagnols ne succombent à leur tour à son parfum... Cest eux qui baptisèrent cette plante vainilla, mot dérivé du latin vagina... signifiant étui, gousse... esclave noir de 12 ans appelé Edmond Albius. Né le 9 août 1829 sur lîle Bourbon (La Réunion)... adopté par Ferréol Bellier Beaumont... qui linstruisit en botanique. Quelques années avant la naissance dEdmond, le vanillier avait été introduit sur lîle dans lespoir quil produise la gousse parfumée. Il semblait sy plaire , donnant de superbes fleurs... mais de gousses : point... personne ne se doutait que la plante avait besoin dun insecte entremetteur pour assurer ses besoins sexuels. Sa fleur possède bien des organes mâles et femelles, mais un hymen végétal empêche lautofécondation. Pour transférer le pollen dune fleur à lautre, le vanillier mexicain [which species ?] sest acquis les services dune abeille locale... A cette fin, le rusé sest dessiné une fleur ressemblant à une abeille femelle [Vanilla !!!???], poussant même la tromperie jusquà émettre un parfum... Labeille mâle... se précipite sur ce quelle prend pour une femelle consentante [Is Vanilla pollinated by pseudocopulation ?], déchire les membranes protectrices, tente un accouplement, puis, comprenant sa méprise, senfuit... mais enduite de pollen. ... linsecte recommence... avec une deuxième fleur où il dépose son pollen... Ce nest quen 1836 que cette mystification fut découverte fortuitement par Charles François Antoine Morren. Ce botaniste belge goûtait paisiblement une tasse de café dans un hôtel de Veracruz quand son attention fut captée par le manège dune minuscule abeille noire en train de virevolter autour dune fleur de vanille. Intrigué, il sinstalle pour mieux observer et constate que linsecte, tartiné de pollen, pénètre dans la fleur. Morren patiente et voit la fleur se fermer. Quelques jours plus tard, constatant lapparition dune gousse, le botaniste comprend enfin le rôle joué par linsecte. Bientôt, il conçoit une technique de pollinisation artificielle quil teste avec succès au Jardin botanique de Liège. Malheureusement, elle savère trop compliquée pour être utilisée dans une plantation. Cest alors quintervient le génie du jeune Edmond. Un jour de lannée 1841, Ferréol Bellier Beaumont découvre deux gousses sur ses vanilliers. Stupéfait, il interroge son personnel... le jeune Edmond avoue : cest lui le coupable. Avec un éclat de bambou, il a eu lidée de déchirer la membrane protégeant lanthère (lorgane mâle), puis dun adroit geste rapide du pouce de transférer le pollen de lanthère vers le stigmate. ... Beaumont le congratule, réitère la méthode avec succès et envoie son protégé enseigner son geste à tous les esclaves de lîle... Le Mexique a perdu lexclusivité de la culture de la vanille [was Vanilla cultivated in neighbouring countries ?], qui se répand... aux Antilles, à Madagascar et, bien sûr, à Tahiti. ... Le botaniste Jean-Michel Claude Richard, créateur du jardin du Roy de Saint-Denis, prétendit, par la suite, avoir enseigné la méthode de fécondation à lenfant. .. La vanille naquit dans la forêt tropicale mexicaine [which species ?]. ... séduisit le peuple Totonac, sur la côte du golfe du Mexique, probablement le premier à cultiver le vanillier, voilà plus de mille ans. Selon sa mythologie, l'orchidée naquit du sang versé sur le sol par la déesse Xanat, que son père avait tuée après qu'elle se fut unie à un mortel... Quand les Aztèques vainquirent les Totonac, ils leur réclamèrent un tribut annuel en gousses de vanille, qu'ils mélangeaient à leur boisson chocolatée. A leur tour, les conquistadors espagnols apprécièrent la vanille, qu'ils tentèrent vainement d'acclimater en Afrique et en Asie. Il faudra attendre le coup de pouce d'Edmond Albius pour que la culture du vanillier se répande hors de son berceau natal. Madagascar est devenu le premier producteur mondial. Mais, aujourd'hui, la vanille naturelle n'assure plus que 5 % de la consommation mondiale. L'industrie alimentaire lui préfère la vanille artificielle, fabriquée par milliers de tonnes à partir de bois. URL :
[OGD] vanilla / Oaxaca (Mexico)
Red Chinantla- Presidium Vainilla ... vainilla... necesita calor, humedad y sombra... Alguna vez fue ampliamente cultivada en México, las mujeres la utilizaban para perfumar el aceite de mamey que conservaba el cabello sedoso. El cultivo de la vainilla cesó en el siglo XIX, pero se reanudó en los 90. Chinantla, Oaxaca, es la única región en el mundo donde se puede encontrar vainilla silvestre (Vanilla planifolia) [true?] y es la zona de mayor diversidad genética de esta planta... El cultivo de la vainilla es un proceso largo y laborioso. Entre los meses de marzo y mayo, en las primeras horas de la mañana, se debe levantar con un palillo la membrana y picarle suavemente con el dedo para polinizar tres o cuatro flores en cada cúmulo. La carnosa fruta madura tiene un color amarillo y mide de 15 a 25 centímetros, en su interior contiene una enorme cantidad [hoe many, more or less ?] de diminutas semillas que deben [the capsules ?] hornearse durante seis a ocho horas, a una temperatura de 65°C, y luego asolearse durante dos meses para hacerlas suaves, flexibles, aromáticas y de color café. El Presidium de la vainilla comenzó... en Rancho Grande, una comunidad de 200 personas en la sierra. El proyecto recibió el Premio de Biodiversidad de Slow Food en 2000. Actualmente trabajan también con las comunidades de Cerro Verde, Flor Batavia, Arroyo Tambor, San Felipe Usila, San Juan Bautista, Valle Nacional, San Andrés Teutila, San Andrés Teotilapan y San Pedro Ixcatlán, en el estado de Oaxaca. En 2004 comenzaron a elaborar un protocolo internacional de producción para conocerlo a fondo, los integrantes del Presidium Vainilla toman cursos de entrenamiento con expertos en la materia y cuentan con el apoyo de la Universidad de California y el Centro para Estudios Tropicales de Veracruz, quienes les enseñan la identificación de las diferentes variedades de vainilla, con el apoyo y asistencia del Instituto Tecnológico Agropecuario Tuxtepec 3. URL : http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estilos/59037.html *** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla
vanilla... The pod or bean, as it is commonly referred to... Split open the pod and you have a myriad of minuscule seeds, technically called speckles. URL : http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2008/08/20/no_such_thing_as_bland_feelings_about_this_treat/ Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla / recipe [Reunion]
Madagascar is today one of the world's largest producers of vanilla, most experts agree that the finest comes from Réunion. ... Imported in the early 19th century to the gardens of General Lafayette in French Guyana, it soon found its way to the Jardin des Plantes, the botanical gardens in Paris... Pierre Henri Philibert... from Réunion... brought the plant to his native island. However, he was disappointed to find that the aromatic pods failed to fertilise. But, a couple of decades later, a young slave named Edmond Albius accidentally discovered that by rubbing together the flowers of the orchid, which carries both male and female organs, the pods would appear. This manual pollination method is still used today, explains Maurice Rouloff, a local producer whose family is now in its the fourth generation in the business. The job that is traditionally performed by women called les marieuses , or wedding-makers, begins in June and lasts for three to four months. Each morning the women introduce the flowers to each other - by hand. It normally takes three years for the first fertilisation to take place and each plant produces about 40 pods. Vanilla is like wine - le terroir is vital, says Rouloff... The pods are blanched in water twice, then dried under the sun for a few days before being stored in tissue paper in boxes of... hardwood. They are then left for at least a year for the fragrance to emerge, says Rouloff. The longer you keep it, the more intense the perfume; 20 years is good. On Réunion, vanilla finds it way into... dishes as often as it does into puddings. ... preserving chicken livers in vanilla flavoured fat, cooking écrevisses (river crayfish) in a vanilla cream or finishing the sauce of a tournedos with vanilla-flavoured red wine...dishes... recommended by the local vanilla co-operative... a dish of breast of duck, cooked rare and served with fresh orange and a dressing infused with rum and vanilla... a whole new meaning to duck à l'orange... Réunion... Several of the vanilla producers... complained that labour costs made it difficult for them to compete with the prices from producers in the neighbouring island of Madagascar. They are also struggling to obtain an AOC ( appellation d'origine contrôlée ) classification for their brand of vanilla. ... local rhum arrangé , flavoured with vanilla and local herbs. *** RECIPE Duck With vanilla and orange Serves two Ingredients 2 tbsps of dark rum 1 whole pod of vanilla Juice of 1 lime 1 magret de canard or duck breast Sea salt 1 dspn of brown sugar 2 large oranges, peeled and pith removed, then finely sliced Method Pour the rum over the vanilla pod and add the lime juice. Leave to infuse for one hour. Make deep slits into the fat side of the duck breast, and rub in the salt and sugar, then leave to stand as well. When you are ready to cook, heat a ridged grill pan and preheat the oven to 200°C. Cook the duck, fat side down, for 10 minutes until nicely browned, then transfer to the hot oven for another 10 minutes. Drain the fat from the grill pan and add the rum, vanilla and lime juice mixture, bringing to a swift boil. Pour immediately over the sliced oranges. Slice the duck breast thickly (it should be very pink) and serve straight away on top. URL : http://www.ft.com/cms/s/81403e4e-44ac-11dd-b151-779fd2ac.html ** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla planifolia
Vanilla planifolia This orchid does not sprout pods, but develops seed pods from hand-pollinated flowers. Since the flowers last only one day and are best pollinated at very early hours of the day, the pods develop infrequently. We have had pods in the past and I will transfer pollen on ours at Royal Botanical Gardens tomorrow. A friend from Sri Lanka suggests that the top of the plant must droop down. Ours does and flowers regularly. Jim Plant Hormones Canada James D. Brasch, Director P.O.Box 40583 Burlington, Ontario Canada L7P 4W1 phone: 1-905-335-1713 fax (24/7-secure) 1-905-335-3071 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla / Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (US)
at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens... the Vanilla Orchid hanging in the Orchid Room... in the 10 years the plant has lived at Phipps, it has never sprouted pods. [has it bloomed / has it been pollinated ?] URL : http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08154/886640-47.stm *** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla [title / correction]
pure vanilla extract... must contain at least 35 percent alcohol... natural (sometimes called pure) vanilla flavoring (which contains less alcohol) or powdered vanilla, made from powdered beans. Imitation vanilla products... contain no real vanilla. ... Vanilla was introduced to Europe in the 16th century and Queen Elizabeth I reportedly was wild about it [how wild ?]. Thomas Jefferson developed a taste for it when he was ambassador to France. His recipe for vanilla ice cream is at www.monticello.org. Vanilla is the original recyclable bean. The whole (or half) pod can be used and reused, even after its seeds have been scraped out to flavor a dish. Pop the empty bean in a container of sugar and let it sit for a week or so to flavor the sugar. Once you've used up the flavored sugar, add more sugar and flavor again. Continue until all the flavor is squeezed out... (Need a more exact recipe? Add one or two vanilla beans to a pound of granulated sugar -- about 21/4cups. Keep in a tightly sealed container for a week or two, and you'll have vanilla sugar.) URL : http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/18723869.html * Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla (Costa Rica)
el INBio inauguró... un nuevo sendero en su parque temático en Santo Domingo de Heredia, titulado Uso sostenible de la biodiversidad. ... la vainilla... el guía de INBioparque explica cómo esta es una orquídea de la cual se extraen sus frutos tipo vaina para confeccionar aromatizantes, incienso o para cocinar. Antes la vainilla era sinónimo de queque, pero ha evolucionado mucho y tiene muchos usos de la naturaleza, dijo Claudia Charpentier, del INBio. URL : http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/marzo/12/aldea1458389.html ** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla vines and virus
Since viateur brought up the subject of Vanilla, I will point out my recent observations re:virus and Vanilla. The last 4 Vanilla plants I bought tested positive for virus, even one I thought was from seed, but maybe it wasn't. I think Vanilla suffers the same high incidence of virus and for the same reason as reedstemmed Epidendrums. The preponderance of propagation by cuttings means that plants are passed from person to person and sooner or later, someone is careless, or just does not think that using sterile tools is really important. Hence, all cutting passed on from that point are virused. I had a collection of about 20 reedstemmed Epis, and only one did not test positive for virus. All my Vanillas tested positive. I now only buy recent seedlings of the Epis, and one of these tested positive. Haven't found any seedling Vanillas yet, but considering the room they can consume, I will wait until I get my permanent greenhouses in. Cynthia, Prescott, AZ ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla planifolia
Vanilla planifolia ... Tropical Americas, not native to Florida but occasionally found in the southernmost part of the state. ... leaves... oblong to lanceolate to 8 inches long, on short petioles or leaf stems. The vine branch or stem is stout, green and clings to host. The roots are thick and covered with velamen... clings to the host without damaging it... absorbing water. Flowers... yellowish to greenish... sepals and petals to 2 1/2 inches long, the lip three-lobed. ... flowers appear in groups or individually when the vine is mature... Pollination in the wild is by bees and hummingbirds [! ?], but by hand for commercial production. The fruit... an orchid seed pod... harvested for culinary use while still green... undergoes an extensive process of curing to develop the... vanilla. Hardiness: USDA Hardiness Zones 10-11, damaged by temperatures below 50 degrees. Height/width: Vine is sparse in leaf and flower and can grow to 100 feet long in the wild. Size is controlled for commercial and hobbyist purposes. Light: Part, shifting shade, such as found under a tree canopy. ... Vanilla orchids are epiphytes... Notes and culture: ... The Mexican Totonaca [Totonac / Totonacos] Indians reportedly were the first to grow the... pod. The Totonaca[o]s... conquered by the Aztecs... combined... spice with cacao and honey for a beverage... Cortez is reported to have taken vanilla with him on his return to Spain. It is said that Thomas Jefferson brought vanilla to the United States. Today, most of the commercial production of vanilla is in Mexico and Madagascar... there are new vanilla plantations under development in Hawaii. Vanilla orchids are easy to grow. They require warm temperatures, high humidity and some shade, such as found under a tree or in a shadehouse. ... orchid mix, fertilize lightly and frequently, and water if rain is in short supply. vanilla will produce flowers in the home garden, but the plants must be mature, from 1 to 3 years old. Flowers must be hand pollinated during the one day they are open. Once pollinated, the pods will remain on the plants for up to nine months before mature. After harvesting the green pod, at least three months of curing is necessary to produce the... flavor and aroma associated with vanilla. URL : http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/dec/16/plant-profile/ illustration : http://media.tcpalm.com/tcp/content/img/photos/2007/12/10/16SPLANTPROFILEFC-6161_t220.JPG ** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla / cooperatives [Madagascar]
créer des coopératives financières a permis à plusieurs milliers de producteurs de vanille du nord-est de Madagascar de maintenir la tête hors de leau. Le prix de la vanille, principal produit dexportation de cette île de locéan Indien, diminue progressivement depuis 2003 ; cette année-là, lépice avait atteint le prix record de 450 à 500 dollars le kilo, avant de tomber à 50 dollars le kilo au début de lannée 2005, puis à environ 30 dollars le kilo en 2007. La vanille est principalement produite dans la région... de la Sava, dans le nord-est, où quelque 70 pour cent de la population dépendent de cette épice, selon le Fonds international des Nations Unies pour le développement agricole (FIDA). Lagence avait lancé le système des coopératives en 1998/99, à une époque où la vanille avoisinait son prix actuel. ... la... réussite du projet avoir su lier la production et les ventes à un système dépargne et de crédit... La vanille... est une des cultures les plus consommatrices de main-duvre... il faut compter pas moins de cinq ans entre la plantation et la production de lextrait de vanille mature. ... la vanille... fleurit... deux ans après la plantation... Les gousses de vanille sont préparées pour produire la vanilline... les gousses sont bouillies, puis séchées lentement pendant trois ou quatre mois... Les prix records de 2003 ont encouragé dautres pays, tels que la Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée, lOuganda, lInde, le Costa Rica et la Colombie, à se lancer dans la culture de la vanille URL : http://www.irinnews.org/fr/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75200 in English : http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75174 *** more news in French, Portuguese and Spanish : http://pages.infinit.net/viateurb/nouvelles_sur_les_orchidees-accueil.htm *** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla
Vanilla orchids... now cultivated in Madagascar, Tahiti and Indonesia. New plantations... also... in the Caribbean and Africa. ... The vine grows in the shade of a host tree, like citrus or cacao... It... takes nine months for the blossoms to mature into the... green beans. After the beans are harvested, they go through a... curing process that can also take up to nine months. The quality of the vanilla bean depends most on how well it has been cured... Vanilla extract is made by immersing vanilla beans in alcohol. Vanilla paste and vanilla powder, long used in Europe, are now being introduced to American... The labor involved in bringing the completed vanilla bean to the table makes it the second-most expensive spice in the world [first is saffron] URL : http://www.pioneerlocal.com/508275,pp-vanilla-081607-s2.article * Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla in Iowa (US)
vanilla bean... looked like something you might sweep off the sidewalk on an autumn day. ... several dollars for a jar that held exactly one thin bean... that vanilla bean... adventure... in its fragrant aroma the scent of the exotic forests of Madagascar where much of the world's vanilla is grown... see past the price tag on that single vanilla bean. ... left breathless by the high price of vanilla... ... it's the second-most expensive spice on grocery shelves (following saffron). And it's worth it... [recipes with vanilla follow...] URL : http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070620/FEATURES02/706200301 *** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla tahitensis [French Polynesia]
Taha'a : the Orchid Island ... Originally introduced a hundred years ago, vanilla plantations have flourished and grown without modern machinery. Generations of family-owned farms harvest... v[V]anilla tahitensis Uniform Resource Locator : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/5/prweb523471.htm ** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla business in Hawaii (US)
Jim and Tracy Reddekopp... In 2000, Jim and Tracy... moved to a six-acre farm in Paauilo, Hawaii, off the Big Island's northeast Hamakua coast. ... Tracy's mother's suggestion that they grow vanilla... Seven [years] later... with help from a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the USDA, the Reddekopps... produce 300 pounds of vanilla a year and average 200 visitors a week - about half from Norwegian Cruise Line ships - to the expanded 25-acre property. ... the Hawaiian Vanilla Company... has a gift shop open daily during the week and serves as home base for a tea brunch... luncheon... or vanilla tasting... Each are served daily... Chef Tracy cooks the meals containing vanilla while Jim gives a lecture on the crop. ... at a four-course luncheon... soup, salad, a roulade of local beef, and almond cake with vanilla ice cream... every recipe included vanilla. ... To stretch... profits... the Reddekopps have created a line of products containing their vanilla or its extract. In their gift shop... salad dressing... tub[e]s of vanilla sugar... cards with illustrations of a vanilla orchid... and vanilla coffee... The luncheon included a video and lecture about vanilla ... and... visit some orchids growing in the backyard. ... greenhouse where... 12,000 orchid vines are growing article URL : http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/27/magazines/fsb/hawaii.vanilla.fsb/index.htm?section=money_latest ** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla / cyclones in Madagascar / prices in Colorado (US)
Madagascar... natural disasters in the... island... off the southeastern coast of Africa will affect how much you pay... for vanilla. Eighty to 90 percent of the global supply of vanilla beans comes from Madagascar, said Melissa Basta of Custom Blending of Fort Collins... The north coast of Madagascar has been hit with a series of cyclones that have devastated the country and the northeast coast's vanilla bean crop, their primary source of income. ... Custom Blending contributed... to UNICEF to meet emergency needs... Tropical Cyclone Indlala on March 15 and Cyclone Jaya on April 4 hit... with... force. ... With the majority of our vanilla beans coming out of Madagascar's vanilla coast, we feel very connected to the growers and the vanilla-growing region of Madagascar, said Joe Basta, vice president of retail sales. When the fifth cyclone hit in the course of three weeks, 20 to 80 percent of the vanilla crops were damaged, which is going to drive vanilla prices up, Melissa Basta said. ... The market had just begun to see a drop in the price of vanilla after cyclones and flooding his[t] Madagascar in 2002, ... When Madagascar's vanilla coast virtually was wiped out, other countries got into the vanilla market including Uganda, Papua New Guinea, and India, helping to stabilize the price... Vanilla... must be hand-pollinated, making it one of the most labor-intensive crops in the world... It takes three years for a vanilla vine to produce a flower and to recover from cyclone damage. If an orchid is not pollinated within a few hours of opening, it will wither and the opportunity to produce a bean will be lost... Custom Blending invests in sustainability by working with an association of 100 growers to acquire the vanilla beans. Together, Custom Blending partners with FANAMBY, a Malagasy nongovernmental organization, to help develop crop diversification and educate the farmers to balance the pressures on the land and live harmoniously with nature... Locally, Custom Blending has... signed an agreement with Conservation International to continue supporting vanilla growers in Madagascar. article URL : http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070409/BUSINESS/704090301 photos : 1) [caption : Joe Basta of Custom Blending examines a vanilla plant in Madagascar. The Fort Collins-based maker of vanilla gets most of its beans from Madagascar.] http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/misc/zoom.pbsSite=G2Date=20070409Category=BUSINESSArtNo=704090301Ref=AR 2) [caption : Joe Basta sniffs the aroma of vanilla beans.] http://cmsimg.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=G2Date=20070409Category=BUSINESSArtNo=704090301Ref=V2Profile=1046MaxW=600Q=80 ** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla... at the New York Botanical Gardens Orchid Show
from a press release Arizona Vanilla Company... online retailer and distributor of... specialty seasonings has been invited for the second year... to participate at the New York Botanical Gardens... Orchid Show. On March 24, 2006, Arizona Vanilla CEO, Eric Elsberry, will be presenting the History of Vanilla... ... pure vanilla extract, as well as the cookbook Simply Vanilla by Arizona Vanilla Company's co-owner, Patty Elsberry, will be available... Chef Annemarie Huste... will be putting on three cooking demonstrations... Arizona Vanilla Company is ... online distributor of bulk and processed vanilla products including the Madagascar, Mexican, Tahitian and Bourbon vanilla varieties. Arizona Vanilla Company works directly with vanilla growers URL : http://prweb.com/releases/2007/1/prweb497543.htm *** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla... at the New York Botanical Gardens Orchid Show
photo : http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/2007-01/17/Photos/23-Moi-truong.jpg with the following caption : Men sell orchids at Hoang Su Phi market in the mountain province of Ha Giang. Recent... orchid exploitation by local people have been threatening ecological biodiversity and polluting the environment. ... collecting orchids and drying them to sell at the border markets. Every day hundreds of kilograms of dried [!?] orchids are sold at the Hoang Su Phi and Xin Man markets. URL : http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01PHO170107 *** Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
Re: [OGD] Vanilla
Hi All, A very happy and healthy New Year to you all. I need help and I need it yesterday! I have been asked to give a 15 to 20 minute talk on orchids to a Rotary Club and what I want to do is to talk about orchids in general i.e. what is an orchid, how did they get their name, where do they grow and uses of orchids. What I am looking for is for a reference to an illustration that I have seen relating to Vanilla and the Aztecs at some festival swinging arouns a maypole. If anybody has such an illustration would they please e-mail me a scanned copy? I am sure that I have seen this illustration in an orchid book or magazine. Many thanks in advance. Keep well and kind regards Mike South Africa -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.28/604 - Release Date: 2006/12/26 ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla (Uganda)
Bob Murphy... executive at Pennsylvania-based Shank's Extracts, one of the... suppliers of vanilla to American households. A few years ago, Uganda... emerged as... the world's highest-quality supplier of vanilla beans. Prices soared because of a crop failure in Madagascar, traditionally the vanilla king. Ugandans filled the breach, reaping large revenue increases from 2002 to 2004. At the peak of the boom in 2003, cured vanilla beans sold for about $200 a pound, 20 times the historical rate. More than 100,000 farmers in Uganda now grow vanilla, producing two crops a year to Madagascar's one. Almost all of those farmers tend plots of just an acre or less... When the beans appear, the farmers hire security guards to protect them from theft... Six years ago Phillip Betts... set up an operation that cures and exports the finished beans from a processing plant about an hour outside Kampala. ... Betts... says he's the second-largest exporter of vanilla to America. Ugandan vanilla beans these days fetch $12 to $15 a pound article URL : http://biz.yahoo.com/hbusn/061002/081706_8384353.html?.v=1 Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla beans at minus 18° [India]
Amul has become first Indian brand to use natural vanilla in ice-creams... The company has joined hands with 1,500 vanilla farmers of Kochi, who are engaged in procuring and processing quality natural vanilla... Pure natural Vanilla... from the fruit of... Vanilla planifolia. The major flavour component of Vanilla beans is natural vanillin, which appears as a white crystal line material on well cured aged beans... It stays fresh for 12 months from the date of packaging when stored at minus 18 degree celsius. article URL : http://www.newkerala.com/news4.php?action=fullnewsid=27055 * Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla
As many as 5,000 pounds of vanilla beans from Madagascar, Tahiti, Mexico and other tropical countries are shipped weekly to the family owned Nielsen-Massey Vanillas plant in Waukegan [Illinois, US]. The beans are ground or milled into smaller pieces, processed into pure vanilla extract, bottled and shipped all over North America, mostly to gourmet and fine food stores and to ice cream makers. Most vanilla used today is artificial. Nielsen-Massey makes only the pure product sought by gourmet cooks, bakers and confectionery makers. Connoisseurs maintain the pure nectar is dramatically different from artificial vanilla. Vanilla has become a synonym for bland. However, in its pure form it's anything but bland, noted Matt Nielsen, chief of operations for Nielsen-Massey. Vanillas from different regions have distinct aromas and flavors. Madagascar Bourbon vanilla is considered the highest quality, Nielsen said. It has a deep, sweet, rich creamy flavor. Vanilla originated in Mexico and Mexican vanilla, grown in the Vera Cruz area, is creamy, too, but is known for its somewhat spicy almond or nutmeg-like flavor, Nielsen said. Tahitian vanilla has a fruity, floral flavor, Nielsen said. Indonesian vanilla has a woody flavor and isn't as sweet or creamy as Madagascar vanilla, he said. The vanilla bean is the fruit of a tropical orchid, a vine once cultivated only by the Tononaco Indians in the Vera Cruz region of Mexico. It was used with cacao beans, another Mexican product, to make a chocolate-vanilla drink. Hernando Cortez wrung the secret of vanilla from the Aztecs in the 16th century but it took 300 years to figure out how to make the plant produce beans they look like big green beans outside Mexico. A tiny, specialized bee found only in Mexico pollinated the orchid. Finally, in the 1840s, a former slave on Reunion discovered a way of fertilizing the flower by hand using a thin strip of bamboo. The method is still used today and because of that laborious process and a lengthy, sometimes months-long curing process, vanilla is considered the most labor-intensive crop in the world. Pure vanilla extract, is the only flavoring with a U.S. Food and Drug Administration Standard of Identity of its own. It must have a 35 percent alcohol content and contain only alcohol, water and vanilla beans. A 2-ounce bottle of pure Madagascar Bourbon vanilla can cost $8 or more source : http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/14892995.htm?source=rsschannel=belleville_state * Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla / truths or legends
vanilla... cooks from homes to commercial establishments are tempted to use the cheaper artificial version... nutritionist Brenda... director of sales training at Watkins Inc., a Winona, Minn.[US]-based company that's been selling pure vanilla extract since 1895... Vanilla-bean production, she says, is the most expensive agricultural process because it's extremely time- and labor-intensive. Its long journey from blossom to palate... depends on exquisitely precise growing and curing techniques... Vanilla planifolia... The thin beans (or pods) don't grow... unless the flower is pollinated. In Mexico, where vanilla beans were first cultivated in the pre-Columbian era, the Melipona bee took care of that. But Melipona couldn't live outside Mexico. So the orchids that colonists and explorers brought to regions straddling the equator flowered but bore no fruit. ... That changed in the mid-19th century, when a former slave on Madagascar discovered that self-pollination would jump-start the flower into making beans. ... Madagascar and the nearby islands of Comoros, Reunion and Mauritius -- as well as Indonesia, Tahiti and Mexico -- ... where planifolia flourishes. ... pollination is still up to humans, who must seize a very small window of opportunity. Each orchid opens for only a few hours one morning a year. Agricultural workers inspect the vines of their thousands of flowers every day. They fold back an open flower's membrane separating the sex organs, then press male anther to female stigma with a needle. Once grown after about nine months and harvested by hand, the beans undergo a six-month curing process. They're spread on mats to absorb the sun's heat, wrapped in blankets and straw mats at night to sweat, and finally stored in holding rooms to cure... Cyclone Hudah hit Madagascar in April 2000 and wiped out a third of the crop. That loss, having to replant the orchids (which take two to three years to first blossom) and bad weather in 2003, which caused only one-fifth of the new orchids to blossom, all made wholesale prices spike in 2004... Supply has recovered and the price has plummeted to $35 per pound. That's welcome news to food scientist Frank Tangel Jr., director of technical application at Flavor Fragrance Specialties' research lab in Mahwah, where he directs the development of new proprietary flavors. There's nothing like the rich, creamy profile of vanilla, Tangel says. It tastes good in itself, and as a base enhances just about every flavor, like fruit, cinnamon and other spices. It even, he adds, enhances the flavor of salt in products like soups and sauces without increasing sodium content. FFS buys vanilla products from International Flavors Fragrances in Dayton. They use mostly extract, which manufacturers like IFF and Watkins produce by continuously recirculating alcohol and water through the beans. (The FDA requires extract to have a minimum of 13.35 ounces of beans to a gallon of minimum 35 percent alcohol to 65 percent water mixture.) FFS develops new flavors for national clients. When Dunkin' Donuts, for example, wanted a vanilla-flavored coffee, it sent coffee beans to FFS. Tangel and his staff of food technologists, flavor chemists and compounders followed the typical two-month, 15-step process -- including analysis, quality control and taste-testing -- to develop the flavor. After approval by Dunkin' Donuts, FFS sent the formula -- one of 100 vanilla flavor applications in its 65,000-application database -- for production in its Baltimore plant... ... FFS also provided the vanilla flavoring for Captain Morgan Spiced Rum and Stolichnaya Stoli Vanil vodka. ... Despite the expense, vanilla extract can be considered a bargain. Its intense flavor means that you need to use only a little to perform culinary magic. No refrigeration is necessary, only storage -- preferably in a glass container, away from heat and light. ... vanilla extract ages well. Its taste only gets tastier. ... Vanilla, the world's favorite flavor of ice cream, also is found in seafood recipes, cookie dough, tobacco, coffee, soy and alcoholic beverages, lip balm and envelope and postage stamp paste. Used in chocolate production to counteract cocoa's bitter taste, it's the key enhancer in white chocolate. ... As either a positive scent or a neutralizer of malodors, vanilla is a component of air fresheners, potpourri, candles, shampoos and carpet cleaners. ... In controlled studies, meals with vanilla flavoring provided a higher degree of satisfaction than identical meals without it [smile...]. A recent study in London found that overweight people who were given vanilla-scented skin patches significantly reduced their intake of sweet food. source : http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MjEmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5Mjg1MzgmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3 ** regards, VB
[OGD] vanilla at the Atlanta Botanical Garden (Georgia, US)
the Atlanta Botanical Garden celebrates the 15 species of the vanilla orchid vine growing in the Fuqua Orchid Center source : http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=36082 Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla
Viateur wrote: Vanilla Of all the many tropical orchids only two are used for commercial purposes: Bourbon and Tahitian. It flourishes in Brazil, Mexico and Peru and is also grown in Indonesia, Tahiti, Madagascar, China, and the Cormoro Islands (formally known as the Bourbon Islands in the nineteenth century)... * My research a few years ago and published in 'Orchids Australia' in August 2000, revealed that the main commercial species of Vanilla is V. planifolia (from Mexico), with V. tahitiense (Note spelling) a long distant second place. Colin Hamilton Webmaster Australian Orchid Council/OrchidsAustralia Rockhampton, Qld. Australia www.orchidsaustralia.com If K-Mart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing is free yet? ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla
Colin Did I not read somewhere recently in the Digest that V. planifolia (from Mexico) and V. tahitiense are one and the same species and that it was a French plot a long time ago that secretly transplanted V planifolia into Tahiti and claimed they were a different species. Steven Viateur wrote: Vanilla Of all the many tropical orchids only two are used for commercial purposes: Bourbon and Tahitian. It flourishes in Brazil, Mexico and Peru and is also grown in Indonesia, Tahiti, Madagascar, China, and the Cormoro Islands (formally known as the Bourbon Islands in the nineteenth century)... * My research a few years ago and published in 'Orchids Australia' in August 2000, revealed that the main commercial species of Vanilla is V. planifolia (from Mexico), with V. tahitiense (Note spelling) a long distant second place. Colin Hamilton Webmaster Australian Orchid Council/OrchidsAustralia Rockhampton, Qld. Australia www.orchidsaustralia.com If K-Mart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing is free yet? ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla
Vanilla Of all the many tropical orchids only two are used for commercial purposes: Bourbon and Tahitian. It flourishes in Brazil, Mexico and Peru and is also grown in Indonesia, Tahiti, Madagascar, China, and the Cormoro Islands (formally known as the Bourbon Islands in the nineteenth century)... Vanilla is widely used in sweet and savoury foods, perfumery, medicines and is also used for industrial purposes to mask unpleasant odours. According to Patricia Rain... pure vanilla extract can be added to milk or juice for teething or sick children, and is used in medical facilities to calm patients undergoing MRI and CAT scans. Clued in fishermen and women rub their hands with vanilla to disguise their scent. There are many good reasons to have vanilla in the house, if you are painting and the odour is too strong, add some to the paint. Also if you burn your tongue, ease the pain with a few drops of pure vanilla magic. ... By purchasing natural, consciously grown products we provide more economic opportunities for people living in the tropical band on either side of our Equator... plans to establish an educational fund for vanilla growers when it returns a profit. If you would like to participate in this project you can contact Patricia at [EMAIL PROTECTED]. source : http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-2-11/37949.html * Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla-Falling Prices
Title: [OGD] Vanilla-Falling Prices The posting by Viateur on November 13 about falling vanilla prices, took me by surprise. All along I thought there was a world wide shortage of vanilla at least high quality vanilla. There is a Cinderella story in progress in Hawaii, on the Big Island. It may have spread to other islands by now. To summarize, for the first time the USA is involved in the commercial production of vanilla. It all began with a very determined man who found and rescued an abandoned vanilla plant way back around 1941. His name was Tom Kadooka, a wonderful gentleman who eventually saw the potential for the vanilla orchid as a cash crop on the Big Island of Hawaii. In 1980 he really got into the culture and breeding of Vanilla planifolia with the goal of eventually introducing it as an agricultural crop. He made great progress in selection, breeding for quality, disease resistance, etc. He did all he could to spread the word among the people of the island so they would realize how much money they could make on so little land, and the high labor time for vanilla was at a time of year when the labor intensity for coffee plantations was down. Tom lived in Kealakekua close to the famed Kona Coffee country at 1500 feet elevation where it was cool. Tom encountered a huge obstacle during all the years. The farmers and growers werent interested in growing orchids as a crop. They preferred to stick with the crops they already grew and knew best. Change was not on their agenda. It was a discouraging, uphill battle for Tom. But he was nothing if not determined a man who never gave up. I first met Tom Kadooka and his dear wife Evelyn in about 1994 while on a trip to a scientific meeting near Kona. I still cherish the photo a friend took of me with the two of them. He had an orchid nursery with a variety of orchids and an area covered with netting devoted to Vanilla planifolia. He developed a method for drying the vanilla pods a critical step in producing vanilla. As I walked through his mini-vanilla plantation, the aroma of vanilla permeated the air. Mmmm. Toms vanilla was very high quality. As it turned out Hawaii was the ideal place to grow the orchid vines for production of vanilla seed pods yielding wonderful vanilla if only growers would see the light and grow it (which includes hand pollination at a very critical time). In recent years something wonderful happened. Tom met a young entrepreneur, Jim Reddekopp and his wife Tracy. Jim became excited about vanilla. Tom took him under his wing and taught him everything he could. Jim invested in some land on the island and soon started a company devoted to vanilla - The Hawaiian Vanilla Company. That is where Cinderella comes in. Vanilla plants were everywhere, grown from cuttings, even tissue culture. Later on many other people did it too as others started growing the orchids to provide orchid pods to sell to Jim. The Hawaiian Vanilla Company continues to pass on Toms knowledge to hobbyists and growers at seminars each year. They recruit new growers to produce vanilla pods, and the HVC grows the vanilla orchids themselves. I even saw the big cloth-screen covered area where rows and rows of vanilla vines were growing and making flowers and pods. They are selling products made with vanilla, including a body-hand crme that is absolutely wonderful! Meadowgold has a contract with HVC, and they now sell Hawaiian Vanilla Ice Cream with real prime quality vanilla from the Big Island of Hawaii. Last year when I went to Hawaii to enjoy the 2004 Ironman Triathlon, I wanted so much to visit with Tom Kadooka again, but sadly he had passed on just days before we got to the island. He was about 83 then. The legacy he left is enormous. Youth groups, scholarships, honors of all kinds were created in honor of Tom. Tom founded the Kona Daifukuji Orchid Club which is active and vibrant. Orchids magazine published an article about him a few years ago. Other articles have appeared in the print press numerous times. His departure is a great loss to many. I could write pages and pages, but the best thing for OGD readers to do in order to gain a better understanding of Hawaiian vanilla is go to the web site: http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/ We hear a lot about Madagascar, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Tahiti, and a few other places where vanilla has been produced. But until the last few years the USA was never one of them. I am happy to say because of two bold and determined men with insight, who were in the right place at the right time, the USA is now a player in the vanilla economic game, thanks to Tom Kadooka and Jim Reddekopp. Cheers to all. Charles Bracker ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla in the kitchen
Most of the world's vanilla is grown in Madagascar, Indonesia, Mexico and Tahiti... What we call the vanilla bean is the fruit of the vanilla plant. Green when harvested, it is cured over the course of three to six months, during which time it dries out and darkens to a deep brown, and its flavor intensifies. Vanilla manufacturers immerse the cured beans in a solvent of water and alcohol that extracts the flavor. The solvent is then strained and bottled, and the result is pure vanilla extract... Illinois-based Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, a leading producer of vanilla... makes a number of vanilla extracts as well as vanilla paste and vanilla powder... Paste... is made from unstrained beans, and so it contains distinctive flecks of dark brown... that one sees in vanilla bean ice cream... Vanilla powder is actually quadruple-strength extract that has been encapsulated onto maltodextrin, a corn-based starch... The presence of the starch dilutes the vanilla back down to single strength... Vanilla powder... results in a whiter finished product. Another popular use for vanilla powder is as a decorative dry topping for cappuccino. It also is used in hot-cocoa mixes and high-end cake mixes... to substitute vanilla bean for vanilla extract, ... for one tablespoon of extract, use the scrapings of a whole bean source : http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-fdburn4531722nov30,0,2323763.column?coll=ny-rightrail-columnist *** Regards, Viateur ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla
Seems that Andy and Kew agree on the synonym status of Vanilla tahitensis. To wit: Vanilla tahitensis J.W.Moore, Bernice P. Bishop Mus. Bull. 102: 25 (1933). This name is a synonym. Accepted Name:Vanilla planifolia Jacks. ex Andrews, Bot. Repos. 8: t. 538 (1808). Family:Orchidaceae Original Compiler:R.Govaerts 11/11/2003 Synonymized By: Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Monocotyledons Database in ACCESS: 1-71827. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. [as Vanilla planifolia] Jose ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
Re: [OGD] Vanilla.
Title: Vanilla. Andy, for a guy thatprofesses to know everything that is just plain stupid. V. plainifolia and V. tahitiensis aretwo COMPLETELY different species. Your Dr. Zettler needs to be corrected. And never mind the anecdotes about the French stealing. That is just a crock of you -no -what! Wolfgang H. Bandisch - Original Message - From: Andy Easton To: Orchids@orchidguide.com Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2005 12:15 AM Subject: [OGD] Vanilla. Colin, I think you may be in error in your comments about the two supposed species of Vanilla. I don't remember who told me but It was was maybe Dr. Zettler who said that DNA analysis confirmed what many suspected: Vanilla planifolia and Vanilla tahitiensis were one and the same. He did viral work helping the French get the 100% virus infected stock in Tahiti clean. In that the French stole the original stock of V. planifolia from the Liverpool Botanic Gardens several hundred years ago and took it to Reunion, if my memory serves me correctly, it is probably not too surprising that they tried to juice up the pedigree of the plants in Tahiti! Andy Easton ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla.
Title: Vanilla. Thanks to a very helpful e-mail from Eric Christenson, I stand corrected. There is in fact a species of Vanilla called tahitiensis that is distinct from planifolia. Andy Easton ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla / falling prices
[Madagascar] produces 60 percent of the world's vanilla beans - used to flavor ice cream, cakes, colas and much more - but the price is at its lowest in years. And the future is hazy, as other countries move to profit from vanilla's enduring popularity and food makers turn to cheaper, imitation flavors. ... the head of Maryland-based McCormick Co., the world's biggest vanilla buyer, says his company has begun buying more of its vanilla from Indonesia, India and Vietnam... the price has sunk from average highs of about $230 per kilogram at one point in 2003 all the way to $25, a level not seen since the late 1990s... Vanilla ... reached Europe in the 1500s, courtesy of Spanish explorers returning from Mexico, and became a prized perfume and flavor. Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing it to the United States - now the world's largest consumer - after visiting France in the late 1700s. By the mid-1800s the vines themselves made it to Madagascar. Because the bee that pollinates the plants in their native Mexico does not thrive here, growers must hand-pollinate every flower. Some accounts say the method was discovered by a Belgian botanist; others say it was a slave boy on Reunion, an Indian Ocean island near Madagascar... the method has not changed... each flower's anther and stigma with sharpened bamboo sticks so that a vanilla pod, or bean, could emerge. The green-and-yellow flowers bloom from September through December, but each blossom lasts just one day... re-laced the vanilla vines over and through the branches of 12-foot coffee trees... to get the right blend of shade and sun preferred by the orchid. In Madagascar, growers ... sell to collectors, who then sell to exporters... Sometimes small collectors sell to large collectors ** A 50-kilogram batch of prepared beans had just arrived, suffusing the room with its distinctive, sweet aroma. The beans, whose life began last fall, underwent a long process to reach this stage. After nine months on the vine, they were picked green in July and within a week immersed in hot water to stop growth. Next, they spent a few days in a large wooden box, turning brown. After several days it became clear which beans were black (prized by gourmets for cooking) and which were red (destined for liquid extract). The beans then went into the sun for about three months to dry out... The best ... smell like a chocolate sweet; the worst evoke turned wine, salami or cheese... worldwide production is about 2,000 tons. Three tons of red beans sat in boxes bound for the United States, where they will wind up on store shelves as bottles of extract. ... employees in green-and-yellow uniforms packed 11-centimeter-long beans wrapped in twine... [in] 2000, ... a cyclone damaged a portion of the vanilla crop, pushing up prices. Already prices had been rising as worldwide supplies failed to keep pace with international demand in the late 1990s. In Madagascar and elsewhere, farmers saw the potential for greater profits and began planting more vanilla vines. Because it takes three to four years for a new vine to reach full production, the first half of the decade shaped up early as a seller's market. More shocks followed for Madagascar. Late in 2002, unusually cool and damp weather here kept many vanilla flowers from blooming. Last year another cyclone hit, causing fresh damage. The price marched steadily up. People remember it like a dream: $30 per kilogram in 2000, hitting the $100 mark in 2001, $150 in 2002, and over $200 in 2003. They also remember armed bandits robbing individuals and entire villages of their vanilla, confrontations that on several occasions ended in murder. At one point in late 2003... the price would be $200 in the morning, $220 by afternoon, $250 the next day... In some cases a single kilogram fetched $500. McCormick, looking ahead, made a gamble and locked in $50 million worth of vanilla at 2003 prices. It turned out to be a bad bet. The price tumbled... Now, it's natural for people from outside to push the price down because they can have vanilla from Uganda at a lower price. The price dropped sharply last year. Some of McCormick's big industrial customers switched from natural flavors, and vines in more than half a dozen countries began bearing fruit. Supply had finally caught up with demand. The rest of this decade should be a buyer's market... global supply will exceed demand by about 50 percent, which should keep prices stable at low levels. ... Madagascar ... its beans are widely considered the best, with their smooth and creamy flavor. .. a rising share of vanilla flavor and fragrance is synthetic, according to Patricia Rain, owner of a California vanilla firm and author of Vanilla: The Cultural History of the World's Favorite Flavor and Fragrance. Artificial vanilla is usually made from a byproduct of paper processing, or from a substance derived from coal tar and
[OGD] Vanilla
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [OGD] you may try this at home interesting article on vanilla and some recipes : ** Viateur The article you refer to leaves out some very important information: (a) that India is a fast developing source of cultivating Vanilla orchids and products, and (b) the name of the plants being used. The main orchid for vanilla production is Vanilla planifolia; the Tahitian variety is Vanilla tahitiensis. See my article from Orchids Australia August 2000, at www.orchidsaustralia.com/vanilla.htm There are recipes for more than a few culinary dishes! Colin Hamilton Webmaster Australian Orchid Council/OrchidsAustralia Rockhampton, Qld. Australia www.orchidsaustralia.com In some cultures, what I do would be considered normal. ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla intercropping in coconut gardens / India
see a news item : http://www.hindu.com/seta/2005/11/03/stories/2005110300191700.htm * Regards, Viateur ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla planifolia / culture tips
kyso-aku [mgl] wrote : after checking google for the obvious keywords [???], I couldn't find any care/culture sheets for Vanilla planifolia Have you checked the following web page : http://www.sherrysgreenhouse.com/oldsite/vanilla.html ? *** Regards, Viateur ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Vanilla and Fruit Bats
In researching the genus Selenepedium, which also produces a Vanilla scented seed pod, I found reference to the use of vanilla pods to bait fruit bat traps. It seems that fruit bats in South America cannot resist the scent of vanilla. It therefore seems likely that South American fruit bats may eat and disperse seeds of Vanillae, and possibly Selenepedium. Further searches on this topic failed to reveal if any studies have been undertaken on this subject. *** On the subject of Vanillae, you mentioned in a previous post : the fruits are aromatic, and would be quite attractive to animals as a food source. That is an interesting point. Do you have any reference that indicates that animals (excluding humans...) actually eat vanilla pods ? Do you know of other orchids of any genus that are a food source for animals ? *** Regards, Viateur Lois Miller 3807 Oxford Common Fremont, CA 94536 (510) 793-4243 ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] vanilla, vanillae and vanillin
Lois [Miller] : Thanks for your comment about the Vanilla scented seed pods. You wrote : genus Selenepedium, which also produces a Vanilla scented seed pod Is the scent of Selenipedium seed pods similar because of the presence of the aroma compound vanillin in both genera (Vanilla and Selenipedium) ? * You also wrote : I found reference to the use of vanilla pods to bait fruit bat traps What is the reference ? It would certainly be interesting to find out if the bats attracted by the scent actually eat the seed capsules. It is presumed that the seeds of Apostasia, Selenipedium and Vanilla, are dispersed by animals. Are you aware of studies that have been conducted on the dispersal of orchid seeds by animals, following ingestion ? * Regards, Viateur ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
