Living · 6 pages · 12 min
Why imitation vanilla is a different molecule
Imitation vanilla is vanillin alone, or sometimes ethyl vanillin, not the pod's mixture.
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From the opening
Imitation vanilla is built as a flavor chemical rather than as an extract of a cured pod. Often the chemical is vanillin, the same main molecule the pod makes, standing by itself, and sometimes it is ethyl vanillin, which really is a different molecule with a stronger smell. The opening covers vanillin alone versus the whole pod, ethyl vanillin as a real cousin, and why baking narrows the gap.
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Inside
- Vanillin alone versus the whole pod
- Ethyl vanillin as a real cousin
- Why baking narrows the gap
- Fermentation vanillin is still one molecule
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Vanillin as the principal aroma compound of cured vanilla
- Ethyl vanillin as a synthetic cousin not found in the pod