page_title: Vanillin
section_title: Uses
hierarchical_section_title: Vanillin / Uses
caption_attribution_description: English: Two types of vanilla extract
context_page_description: Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula C₈H₈O₃. It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin is now used more often than natural vanilla extract as a flavoring agent in foods, beverages, and pharmaceuticals.
  Vanillin and ethylvanillin are used by the food industry; ethylvanillin is more expensive, but has a stronger note. It differs from vanillin by having an ethoxy group instead of a methoxy group.
  Natural vanilla extract is a mixture of several hundred different compounds in addition to vanillin. Artificial vanilla flavoring is often a solution of pure vanillin, usually of synthetic origin. Because of the scarcity and expense of natural vanilla extract, synthetic preparation of its predominant component has long been of interest. The first commercial synthesis of vanillin began with the more readily available natural compound eugenol. Today, artificial vanillin is made either from guaiacol or lignin.
context_section_description: The largest use of vanillin is as a flavoring, usually in sweet foods.  The ice cream and chocolate industries together comprise 75% of the market for vanillin as a flavoring, with smaller amounts being used in confections and baked goods.
  Vanillin is also used in the fragrance industry, in perfumes, and to mask unpleasant odors or tastes in medicines, livestock fodder, and cleaning products. It is also used in the flavor industry, as a very important key note for many different flavors, especially creamy profiles such as cream soda.
  Additionally, vanillin can be used as a general-purpose stain for visualizing spots on thin-layer chromatography plates.  This stain yields a range of colors for these different components.
  Vanillin–HCl staining can be used to visualize the localisation of tannins in cells.
caption: Vanilla extract
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