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What plant is the source for natural vanilla flavoring?

The vanilla bean, a long, thin pod, is the fruit of the orchid Vanilla planifolia. Because the process of harvesting and preparing the beans is extremely labor intensive, pure vanilla is quite expensive.

The vanilla plant is native to the tropical regions of the Americas. However, the top producers of the bean, accounting for approximately 75 percent of the world's supply, are Madagascar (an island off the southeast coast of Africa) and the West Indian island of Reunion.

Source: Herbst, Sharon T. The New Food Lover's Companion: Comprehensive Definitions of Over 4000 Food, Wine, and Culinary Terms, pp. 609-10.

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