134 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



occurs in cylindrical pods that are as nearly as long as the Mexican 

 variety, but paler in color and less odorous. Tahiti Vanilla, which is 

 produced on the Island of Tahiti and the Hawaiian Islands, occurs in 

 somewhat broader, flattened pods. The pods are nearly as long as 

 the Mexican variety and sharply attenuated and twisted at the lower 

 portion. The color is reddish-brown and the odor is disagreeable, 

 unfitting it for use for flavoring. Vanillons are the fruits of wild 

 plants and are used in the manufacture of tobacco and sachet powders. 

 They are 10 to 12 cm. long, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. in diameter, gradually 

 tapering towards each end, somewhat triangular in outline, exter- 

 nally, dark-brown to reddish-brown, frequently with transverse 

 markings, due to their being wrapped with twine during the process 

 of curing, when they are spoken of as " braided," and generally longi- 

 tudinally split; the odor is peculiar, somewhat resembling " helio- 

 trope," and is due to the presence of phenol aldehyde, heliotropin 

 (piperonal) which is closely related to vanillin. 



Pompona Vanilla is the fruit of wild and cultivated plants of 

 Vanilla pompona, which is considered to be the original plant from 

 which V. planifolia has been derived by cultivation. The fruits 

 resemble the vanillons in appearance, but the odor is disagreeable, 

 like that of Tahiti Vanilla. 



Vanilla splits and cuts represent the more mature fruits in which 

 dehiscence has taken place and which are cut up into short 

 lengths. 



Tonka seeds contain the odorous principle coumarin, which 

 somewhat resembles vanillin. The ripe seeds of Coumarouna 

 odorata (Fam. Leguminosae), growing in the northern part of the 

 Amazon region, furnish Dutch tonka, and C. oppositifolia, of Northern 

 Brazil and Guiana, yields the English tonka. The Seeds are oblong, 

 ovoid, somewhat flattened, 3 to 4 cm. long and about 1 cm. wide, 

 externally nearly black, covered with crystals of Coumarin, the 

 coriaceous testa being deeply wrinkled; internally yellowish-brown, 

 consisting of two plano-convex cotyledons, enclosing a plumule 

 with two pinnately compound leaves and a fleshy radicle which is 

 directed towards the micropyle situated at the rounded end of the 

 seed; the odor is fragrant, and the taste aromatic and somewhat 

 pungent. 



Tonka seeds contain 1.5 to 3 per cent of coumarin or ortho- 

 oxycinnamic anhydride, which forms colorless prisms having a 

 fragrant odor and a bitter, aromatic taste. Coumarin is sparingly 

 soluble in water, but quite so in alcohol. Tonka also contains a 

 large quantity of a fixed oil, irregularly elongated aleurone grains 



