Vanilla is a spice painstakingly cured from pods of the vanilla orchid, the only edible orchid known (and isn't it a beauty!). Found today only in French Polynesia, its origins have long been recognized in Central America, where the Maya and Aztec civilizations used the vanilla bean for a variety of incense, flavoring and healing purposes.
New Research
The new article, published in the American Journal of Botany, is open source (wahoo!), and the authors used genetics to identify the progenitors of the French Polynesian orchid Vanilla tahitensis as two Central American orchids, V. odorata and V. planifolia.
- Origins of Vanilla, more on vanilla origins
- Lubinsky, Pesach, et al. 2008 Neotropical roots of a Polynesian spice: the hybrid origin of Tahitian vanilla, Vanilla tahitensis (Orchidaceae). American Journal of Botany 95:1040-1047. Free abstract
Added 30 January 09: Faithful reader (and orchid afficionado) Zandt Acree kindly pointed out to me a couple of problems with this entry into the Guide to Plant Domestication. First, the original photo on this blog was not a vanilla orchid (alas! It it lovely)—this replacement is, while less splashy, the real thing. Secondly, V. tahitensis is a highly prized (and expensive) version of vanilla, and most commercial producers of vanilla use the more common V. planifolia. And (duh), V. tahitensis is, in fact, genetically different from V. planifolia, and therefore a domesticate by definition. Finally, and most painfully of all, the article is not open source, but must be paid for to be read.
Also, to answer Gravlin, one of the commenters below, V. planifolia and V. odorata are still found in Mesoamerica, just not (so far) the hybrid V. tahitensis.
Comments
It is interesting that they trace the origin spot to the Maya region. I wonder, what evidence (if any), do they have for that? The only place where vanilla is grown in Mesoamerica (to my knowledge) is around Papantla, Veracruz.
Dick
The article cites this paper: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/journal_of_latin_american_geography/v005/5.2barrera.html
Not that I’ve read it, and it seems to refer to 16th and 17th century data–but maybe you have access to Muse?
Kris
Article stated Vanilla Bean orchid cultivated by Maya but only found in French Polynesia today. Why isn’t it still in Mexico/Yucatan, Central America and how did orchid get to Polynesia? Most agriciultural products from New World, avocados, tomatoes, cocoa, cashews, maize, quiana, beans, 100′s more, all survived. What happened to Vanilla Bean?Gravlin