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AUTHENTICATION AND FLAVOR ANALYSIS

9 Quality Control of Vanilla Beans and Extracts

Arvind S. Ranadive

9.1 INTRODUCTION

Consistent quality is the hallmark of a good product. If the raw ingredients used in the manufacture of a product are consistent, if the manufacturing process is sound, and if the handlers or operators are properly trained, there is no reason why a consistent quality product cannot be made at all times. Quality can be defined as a sum of desirable attributes of a product requested or developed by a customer or consumer, and quality control (QC) is maintenance of the defined attributes designed to insure adequate quality in the manufactured products. Maintenance of quality is important not only for the manufacturer’s reputation but also for profitability. Manufacturers whose mantra is “do it right the first time” save substantial costs in reworks and lost products. In the flavor industry, QC refers to two important attributes of the product, namely sensory quality, which deals with organoleptic evaluation and analytical quality, which deals with physical and chemical properties. A high quality commercial vanilla product relies on both quality control of the product itself, as well as the vanilla beans from which it is made. Since vanilla is an expensive product, adulteration is an ongoing challenge and determination of authenticity of vanilla products becomes an important activity. This chapter is divided into three sections:

I Quality control of vanilla beans

II Quality control of commercial vanilla products

III Determination of authenticity of vanilla extracts

9.2 QUALITY CONTROL OF VANILLA BEANS