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'''Whether one is exploring a national park in the SAVA region or happen to travel just travelling through Sambava, the de facto capital of the world's vanillaagriculture, a tour of one of the many a vanilla plantations, plantation combined with a visit to a preparation and export vanilla production facility, will give visitors an insight into the lenghty and labour intensive process of transforming wild the green fruits of vanilla orchids and their green fruits into the familiar fragrant black natural vanilla bean spice that everyone appreciate as an is the world's favourite ingredient in quality ice cream creams, pastries and countless sweet treatsother food products.'''

What can be seen depends the time of the year and on the activities that are ongoing during at the time of a visit. Between May and June, the plucking of harvesting green vanilla beans happens is done across plantations along on the northwest coast around Sambava, Antalaha and Vohemar as well as further afield into the countrysideinland, while at higher altitudes , around Andapa and Marojejy, the harvesting usually takes place in July or and early August.

The After harvesting, the green vanilla beans crops are thereafter traded at organised brought by the farmers to vanilla markets across the vanilla producing regions where buyers place competing bids bid for the yearly harvests from farmers and various cooperativestheir produce. A minimum price is set by the farmers and the governmentgovernent each year, which in 2022 was 75,000 Ar per kilogram of green vanilla.

The green vanilla is mostly crops are sold mainly to local exporters and producers who thereafter manage the approximately three months-long transforming process transformation of the green beans into black vanilla beans. For As the beans lose moisture and shrink during the drying process, every six kilos of green vanilla, beans will produce approximately one kilo kilogram of black vanilla beans will be produced.

Througout the transformatio processntransformation, also known as the curing of vanilla beansprocess, the beans are graded and grouped into by classifications based on suitability for different end-uses: Grade A being Gourmet Quality, Grade B Extract quality and Grade C which are known as Cuts & Splits. These classifications, sometimes mistaken for indicators of quality, are based on humidity and thereby suitability for different endn-uses.

These classifications are defined by the level of humidity, and should not be taken as an indicator of overall quality. Low-humidity beans are simply suitable suited for large -scale food processing purposes, since dry beans are as they can easily be ground into powder and mixed into with various food products. Grade B, or Extract grade vanilla beans, is a definition for the vanilla beans grade that are is typically suited used for the production of vanilla extracts, while Grade A beans, or gourmet quality beans, which have the highest humidity, are selected in part for their appearance. Grade A beans are preferred typically favoured by chefs and for home end-consumers who will split open the pods to scrape out its seeds to mix into various cooking and baking, especially consumerscreations. Yet, But all grades can be used in cooking and baking. While grade A may have a stronger scent and a better overall appearance, the drier Grade B or even C with their relatively low its lowest moisture levels content will offer the greatest highest volume per kilogram, effectively giving providing more vanilla and flavour flavouring for a the same weight and perhaps even at a lower pricethan Grade A beans.

In Madagascar, vanilla is rarely used in home cooking or home baking and is almost exclusively intended farmed for exportpurposes. Since the price of black vanilla peaked at around USD 500 per kilo in 2018 and 2019, countless farmers have invested their time and effort efforts in cultivating specifically vanilla as their main primary cash crop.

Historically, the type of vanilla bean species grown on in Madagascar is the Planifoliaspecies, also known as Bourbon vanilla or simply Madagascar vanilla, the "Bourbon" is owed to the history of a French owned slave on La Reunion, then known as Bourbon Island. The species originates from Mesoamerica where it grew centuries ago.

Apart from flavouring sweets from in countless deserts to ice cream food and drink products, vanilla is also used in essential oils, cosmetics, toiletries, perfumes as well as in medicines. The medicinal values are ... The price of different vanilla has in part been determinded by its vanillin percentage, the higher the vanillin percentage, the the higher the price, with the Thaitian variety having fetched record prices in recent years while the Mexican variately (Pompona) having had the lowest and the Magascan planifolia usually placed between. However, studies have shown that high values of 2% or more does not necesssarily equate to an improved taste quality. So a high vanillin percentage is something that can just look good on paper. Instead, beans with a vanillin percentage value of around 1.7% were considered to have the most balanced flavour profile and the highest overall score. There are subtle taste differences, which may easily only be distinquisged by a master chef or gourmandise, and while the terroir makes a difference, Planifolia is known for its floral notes, Pompona for having a more subtle flavour and Thaitian being known for its anaise notes and sweetness. As Thaitian is hybrid between Planifolia and Odorata, it may prove difficult to tell the differnce between a Planifolia and Tahitian grown in a same terroir in for example Madagascar.  == Videos == Sorting Cuts & Splits * WB-sx4b1JLg