The aroma of vanilla, sweet and enveloping, is one of the most common and used in the world and it is used in cooking as well as in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Few people know, however, that the plant which produces the precious black pod belongs to the family of Orchids: it is a climber with white or yellow flowers, with adventitious roots which absorb water from the surrounding humid environment.
Today almost 80% of the world's vanilla comes from Madagascar, Bourbon vanilla, perhaps the most precious one, has a vanillin content between 1.6 and 2.4%, the highest in nature.
