| The first synthetic vanillin was produced by German chemists in 1874 from coniferin, the glucoside found in the sapwood of certain conifers. |
| The best pods are dark brown or black, rather wrinkled and flexible, with a light coating of white crystals of aromatic vanillin. |
| The white chocolate is smooth, creamy and stiff with grains of proper Bourbon vanilla, not vanillin, the cost-cutting artificial flavouring. |
| The dominant smell on the nose is of lemon sherbet and orange peel, followed on the palate by a solid, sweet vanillin mouthful. |
| The two main synthetic sources of synthetic vanillin are from guaiacol and from lignin. |
| Medieval linens show the presence of vanillin in chemical tests, but the linen in the Dead Sea scrolls and other very old linens do not. |
