Vanilla aromatica, planifolia, tincture of the fruit.
Discounting the obvious ornamental importance this extraction makes Vanilla the only orchid with economic value The species most used commercially today are the American species (Vanilla planifolia and Vanilla pompona) and a species from Tahiti (Vanilla tahitensis). Vanilla planifolia is the plant most often used and Vanilla pompona is considered to be of inferior quality. According to Hoehne, Vanilla trigonocarpa is also one of the best producers of vanilla flavoring.
Vanilla plants are spread out over tropical and subtropical regions around the world (Indonesia, South and Central America, Mexico and Africa) and this distribution supports the theory that it is very old genus. This belief is also reinforced by the fact that these orchids carry an important number of similar characteristic features making researchers conclude that the genus was differentiated when the primitive continent of Gondwanaland divided 120 million years ago. This deduction, based on the plate tectonics theory, makes the conclusion that the origin of the orchidaceae family is dated from the very early Cretaceous period (120-130 million years ago) and appeared at the time of other flowering plants.
The story of the Vanilla orchid starts in Europe only since the "discovery" of the Americas but it was part day to day life of the pre-Colombian civilizations of North and Central America. Vanilla was, in reality, one of the plants used from time immemorial by Mayan and Aztec civilizations but it was especially used by the Mexican Aztecs to flavor and scent beverages made with cocoa which was another one of the "discoveries" of European conquest.
During this conquest of Mexico (1520 to 1540), when Cortez visited Montezuma's court, he heard about the Aztec emperor's habit of drinking a beverage called 'chocolatl', served in golden goblets with gold or turtle shell spoons. It was said he partook of this beverage before visiting his wives.
The flavor of the "'chocolatl" was accentuated by adding vanilla which was called by the Aztecs "tlilxochitl". The Aztec word "tlilxochitl" translates to black flower but it seems more appropriately applicable to the fruit (matured pod). The Aztecs extracted the flavoring from the fruits using a process of fermentation and the extract would be later called Vanilla.
Aroma therapy
Aroma produces sexual arousal, equally appealing to both men and women, revitalizes the body producing bioelectrical energy.
Boericke Marked skin irritation resembling milk Poison-oak; is sometimes produced by handling the beans, also by local use of vanilla essence in a hair wash. Vanilla is supposed to stimulate the brain and sexual propensities. Do not use the synthetic Vanilla extract. Various disorders of the nervous system and circulation are produced in workers with Vanilla. Is an emmagogue and aphrodisiac. Menses prolonged.
Hom recorder "Vanilla as a Skin Irritant," by Wm. Leggett. (HomRec, vol. 29, no. 9, p. 416, Sept, 1914.). That Primula obconica and Rhus toxicodendron cause a very annoying form of dermatitis is well known, but less generally known is the fact that vanilla essence may, in certain individuals, cause equally troublesome symptoms.
A perfectly healthy patient of mine, of an inquiring turn of mind, liking the smell of vanilla, added about one-half ounce of the essence to about five ounces of a hair lotion consisting of quinine, spirits of lavender, and rectified spirit (which he was in the habit of using). About twenty-four hours after its application intense itching of the scalp occurred, which gradually extended over the forehead, behind the ears, and down the neck. It did not at first strike him that vanilla was to blame, and for a day he kept rubbing it in the hope of "cooling" the part, as he expressed it. The result was that his eyes were opened metaphorically to the cause although practically they were almost closed by the swelling which followed. Not content with this experience he performed a control experiment on the front of the forearm, because, as he said, it was difficult to believe that vanilla, which he had frequently swallowed in the form of a flavoring agent with nothing but agreeable results, could irritate the skin to such an extent without causing disastrous results to the more delicate mucous membranes. Twenty-four hours afterwards the same intolerable itching occurred on the forearm with an eruption which, from his description, seems to have been of a close papular nature with no reddening of the skin. This soon faded, only to return every five or six hours, as did the eruption on the scalp and face. This state of affairs continued for ten days in spite of constant washing with soft water and soap and other domestic remedies. He said he was compelled to seek advice, as the itching remained intolerable at night and prevented sleep.
When I saw him there were many excoriations on the scalp and face, and more on the arms, due to the scratching, and a papular eruption over the affected parts. There was still some edema, but it evidently was much less than it had been, and he seemed to be getting well.
The condition was probably due to some alkaloid in the vanilla, and knowing that mercury iodide precipitates most of the alkaloids, I prescribed a lotion of rectified spirit and mercury iodide, 1 in 2,000. This seemed to give relief, and the itching disappeared in two or three days.
The interesting points are:
The long time (fourteen days) the symptoms lasted, in spite of the washing.
The intervals of freedom from irritation (about six hours) when it is remembered that the poison was purely irritant and not due to micro-organisms.
The fact, as the patient points out, that the vanilla could be taken by the mouth without producing any irritation when the skin was so susceptible. I am presuming that the irritation was not due to the action of micro-organisms owing to the fact that the vanilla had been suspended in strong spirit for over a year; and there is no evidence that the irritation was merely of a mechanical nature.