When it comes to vanilla, "essential oil" is incorrect and it is better to talk about absolute or extract, as traditional distillation (the method required for the designation “essential oil”) does not yield much with vanilla.
We produce high-end, certified organic vanilla extracts thanks to our farms and partnerships in Madagascar:
- a highly concentrated pure absolute for perfumery or food
- a version diluted in organic ethanol for use as a food flavoring
- an enfleurage in shea butter, mainly for cosmetics
To our knowledge, vanilla essential oil does not really exist, so be wary and check carefully what you are being offered if it is suggested to you elsewhere (misuse of language or dubious product?):
- Sometimes “vanilla essential oil” actually refers to an extract or absolute. In this case, check the extraction method and the carrier used, as well as the concentration if diluted (ethanol, vegetable oil, propylene glycol, etc.).
- Sometimes “vanilla essential oil” is used (incorrectly, in our opinion) to refer to a mixture, for example another essential oil or even a vegetable oil that has been flavored with vanilla (by adding a vanilla extract, possibly synthetic).
- Sometimes “vanilla essential oil” or “vanilla oil” refers to a macerate, obtained by macerating vanilla pods in oil.
Why does vanilla essential oil not exist?
Vanilla (dried pods of Vanilla planifolia) cannot be steam distilled or hydrodistilled (the processes authorized for producing essential oils, in regulatory terms) because:
- its pods are very low in volatile compounds (they mainly contain vanillin, which is not very volatile)
- they are very rich in heavy, resinous, and non-volatile compounds that do not pass through steam
To learn more about the definition of an essential oil or absolute, feel free to consult our Glossary or our page dedicated to manufacturing processes.
There are also CO2 extracts of vanilla, in which case the solvent (which carries the aromatic molecules) is supercritical CO2 (rendered liquid by high pressure and low temperature), but the name vanilla essential oil is not authorized in Europe for this method, so we generally refer to it as a CO2 extract.
Why doesn't dry or vacuum distillation work to obtain vanilla essential oil?
Good question! We love curious minds and experts, so let's get started:
- Too low a content of volatile compounds
- Vanilla pods contain only a few percent vanillin and very few other volatile molecules.
- Essential oils (even those obtained by dry distillation) rely on the transport of volatile molecules by steam, but vanilla has almost none → the yield would be extremely low (almost zero).
- Predominance of thermolabile and non-volatile compounds
- Vanillin and glucovanillins are sensitive to heat: they degrade rather than volatilize.
- During pyro-distillation, they carbonize or transform into burnt phenolic by-products, producing smoky and acrid odors (nothing like the sweet scent of vanilla).
- Plant structure not conducive to the release of an oily phase
- Unlike wood/roots/resins, vanilla pods are fleshy and fibrous and do not contain oil channels → there is nothing similar to an “essential oil” to be recovered.
- Vacuum distillation: not selective enough
- Lowering the pressure lowers the boiling point, but does not suddenly make non-volatile molecules volatile.
- The result would mainly be water and a few traces of odor, too low in concentration to be of any use
Vanilla is a precious and prized resource, and there is no shortage of attempts at development and innovation, but regardless of the current state of technical knowledge and applicable regulations, it can be considered that vanilla essential oil does not exist and that you should be wary if you find products under this name.
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