Constit. of vanilla (Vanilla spp.) and many other plants, e.g. Peru balsam, clove bud oil. Widely used flavouring agent esp. in cocoa products. Obt. from spent wood-pulp liquors Vanilla is a flavor derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (V. planifolia). The word vanilla, derived from the diminutive of the Spanish word vaina (vaina itself meaning sheath or pod), simply translates as little pod. Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people cultivated the vine of the vanilla orchid, called tlilxochitl by the Aztecs, and Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés is credited with introducing both vanilla and chocolate to Europe in the 1520s.

Vanillin is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin, instead of natural vanilla extract, is sometimes used as a flavouring agent in foods, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. It is used by the food industry as well as ethylvanillin.Artificial vanilla flavoring is a solution of pure vanillin, usually of synthetic origin. Because of the scarcity and expense of natural vanilla extract, there has long been interest in the synthetic preparation of its predominant component. The first commercial synthesis of vanillin began with the more readily available natural compound eugenol. Today, artificial vanillin is made from either guaiacol or from lignin, a constituent of wood which is a byproduct of the paper industry. (Wiki).