Effect of Tissue Disruption by Different Methods Followed by Incubation with Hydrolyzing Enzymes on the Production of Vanillin from Tongan Vanilla Beans

Vanilla is one of the most popular and valuable flavorings worldwide. Natural vanilla is extracted from the cured vanilla pods of Vanilla planifolia. The main aromatic compound in vanilla is vanillin, a phenolic aldehyde, which is produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of glucovanillin during the curing process. Although the amount of glucovanillin in the uncured green bean is present at the level of 10–15%, only an average of about 2% vanillin yield results from the traditional curing process. Therefore, the aim of the experiment was to increase the vanillin yield by obtaining the maximum conversion of glucovanillin. This was obtained by the addition of exogenous cellulase, pectinase, and beta glucosidase enzymes and cellular-damaging techniques on green Tongan vanilla beans to enhance the interaction between glucovanallin substrate and enzymes and successfully achieved vanillin production ranging from 4.25 to 7.00% on a dry weight basis. These techniques may be further refined and translated into industrial curing practices for improvement of natural vanillin yield from vanilla beans.