The History Of Vanilla
Its origin:
From historic archives, the first data on vanilla dates back to 1427-1440 AD, which is period when the Aztecs conquered the Totonacan empire, which offered vanilla to the conquerors as a duty. Vanilla was named “tlil-xochitl” in Nahuatl, which means “black flower”. The Aztecs used vanilla as flavor and aroma ingredient for chocolate, a drink destined only for Aztec noble families. Spaniards took vanilla to Europe in 1519, when Hernán Cortés sent Francisco Montejo y Portocarrero to Spain as bearer of the profits from the expedition, together with a number of novel products, including vanilla. While the major species of vanilla orchids are now grown around the world, they originally came from Mesoamerica, including parts of modern day Mexico and Guatemala.
In 1793 vanilla was taken to Paris’ botanical gardens, and then to England. In 1822 vanilla plants from France were sent to Reunion island from where this orchid was propagated through the Indic ocean countries.
By 1850, more plants were taken from Reunion and Paris to Madagascar, where the crop became an important source of income such that Madagascar is now the largest producer of vanilla in the world (Rao and Ravishankar, 2000).