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Although vanilla is native only to Mexico as it relies on a rare black Mexican bee to pollinate, in 1841 a French owned 12-year old slave on Reunion Île Bourbon (now Réunion Island (then called Bourbon island) discovered how to hand-pollinate the vanilla orchid. Shortly thereafter vanilla plantations were introduced to Madagascar. The type of vanilla grown on Madagascar is called and in most location of the world is Vanilla planifolia, also known as Madagascar-Bourbon, or Bourbon Vanilla. Today, about 99About 97% of the world's real vanilla comes from Madagascar. However, an estimated 95% of all vanilla products also contains artificial vanilla.

In ancient times, vanilla was said to have aphrodisiac properties and help against fever. Although these properties remain scientifically unprovenunverified, it has been verified is known that vanilla increases levels of catecholamines, including epinephrine, more commonly known as adrenaline. In an in-vitro test, vanilla was able to block quorom sensing in bacteria. In many bacteria quorum sensing signals function as a switch for virulence in that microbes only become virulent when the signals indicate that they have the numbers to resist the host immune system response. The essential oils of vanilla and vanillin are often used in aromatherapy.