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Quantification of the aromatic potential of ripe fruit of Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae) and several of its closely and distantly related species and hybrids

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Abstract

Vanilla flavor is derived from the cured fruits of two orchid species Vanilla planifolia and V. × tahitensis. About twenty other Vanilla species are also credited with scented fruits, but very little is known about their aromatic features. We investigated the aromatic compound content of the ripe fruits of 30 vanilla accessions obtained from eight species and three hybrids. Glucovanillin plus six phenolic and one anisic aglycones, extracted after enzymatic hydrolysis, were quantified by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Ultra-Violet detection. The analysis of the aromatic contents and the principal components showed clear-cut differences in the aromatic content of the species and varieties studied. The total content of aromatic compounds separated the three species most distantly related to V. planifolia, namely V. lindmaniana, V. crenulata and V. imperialis, from the other species notably by the absence of vanillin potential and a very low total aromatic potential (< 0.45% w/w dry matter). A clear gradient was observed between the different genotypes of V. planifolia, in particular for the total aromatic content (range 3.07–5.00% dry weight) and the vanillin potential (1.80–4.58%). Among all the analyzed samples, the greatest vanillin potential was observed in a V. planifolia x V. × tahitensis hybrid (7.46%). Anisyl alcohol was not detected in any of the 13 V. planifolia varieties but was detected in most of its close relatives such as V. sotoarenasii, V. bahiana, V. tahitensis, and V. pompona. Our data evidenced the very contrasting aromatic profiles of vanilla fruits, even among very close genotypes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors warmly thank the Institut Universitaire de Technologie of the Université de La Réunion (France) for providing access to its extraction and HPLC facilities. We are particularly grateful for the technical assistance provided by Gwendolin, Veronique, Eric, Graziela and Minh (IUT Saint-Pierre, La Réunion). We appreciated the support of the VATEL Biological Resource Center in Saint Pierre (Reunion) which provided the vanilla fruits used in this study. We are thankful to Dr Frédéric Chiroleu for his assistance in carrying out PCAs with R software, and to Prof. Miguel Angel Garcia Alvarado for help in ANOVAs.

Funding

This work was carried out with the financial support of FORDECYT-CONACYT through the Vaniclim Project (Number 297484) “Estrategias para la adaptación y mitigación al cambio climático necesarias para el rescate del cultivo de la vainilla en México”, CIRAD's "Action Incitative Partenaires du Sud”, and the Regional Council of La Réunion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Depto. de Ingeniería Química Y Bioquímica, Tecnológico Nacional de México/Instituto Tecnológico de Tuxtepec, Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, México

    Araceli Pérez-Silva, Mayra Nicolás-García & María de los Ángeles Vivar-Vera

  2. Laboratoire de Chimie Et Biotechnologies Des Produits Naturels ChemBioPro (EA 2212), University of La Réunion, Sainte Clotilde, La Réunion, France

    Thomas Petit

  3. CIRAD, UMR PVBMT, Saint Pierre, La Réunion, France

    Jean Bernard Dijoux

  4. University of La Réunion, UMR PVBMT, Saint Pierre, La Réunion, France

    Pascale Besse

  5. CIRAD, UMR PVBMT, Toamasina, Madagascar

    Michel Grisoni

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  1. Araceli Pérez-Silva
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  2. Mayra Nicolás-García
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  3. Thomas Petit
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  4. Jean Bernard Dijoux
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Contributions

Conceptualization: [APS, MAVV, PB, MG], Methodology: [APS, TP, MG], Formal analysis and investigation: [APS, MNG, JBD, MG]; Writing—original draft preparation: [APS, MNG, MG]; Writing—review and editing: [APS, TP, PB, MG].

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Correspondence to Michel Grisoni.

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Pérez-Silva, A., Nicolás-García, M., Petit, T. et al. Quantification of the aromatic potential of ripe fruit of Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae) and several of its closely and distantly related species and hybrids. Eur Food Res Technol 247, 1489–1499 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-021-03726-w

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