Glucovanillin

The whole of vanilla curing is the release of vanillin from glucovanillin, and the chemistry is less simple than the usual account. In the batch studied, most of the vanillin appeared during the six days of sweating, yet the β-glucosidase that splits glucovanillin lost all measurable activity through blanching and sweating; activity reappeared during drying, reaching a quarter of the fresh bean’s, and the authors link it to microorganisms that appear on the bean after sweating. The vanillin found was much smaller than the glucovanillin lost, and the authors note that drying and curing can themselves lose vanillin. A cook meets only the result: a cured pod with little glucovanillin left in it.