Lessons from the soil Food Information Sheet Lessons from the soil Bacteria living in soil near Colney Lane could help produce the world's favourite flavouring from agricultural waste. Scientists at the Institute of Food Research on the Norwich Research Park have discovered a bug able to transform a chemical found in bran and fruit or beet pulps into vanillin, the main substance responsible for vanilla flavouring. Vanilla is the most important food flavouring worldwide, where it is a vital ingredient in chocolate, cakes, biscuits and ice-creams. It is also used to make us and our homes smell better, as a fragrance for perfumes and air-fresheners.
Natural vanilla is made from the fermented pods of an orchid.
Each orchid plant must be pollinated by hand in order for it to produce the valuable pods. Then the pods are fermented for around 6 months to allow the flavour to develop. This demanding process means that the end-product is very expensive and in limited supply. Worldwide, we use around 8000 tonnes of vanilla flavouring each year. But the industrial methods used to make the synthetic form need a lot of energy and use environmentally-unfriendly chemicals.