Quantification of Vanillin in Fruits of Vanilla planifolia by High-Resolution Liquid Chromatography

Vanilla planifolia is an orchid whose origin is the humid tropic of the south of Mexico, a cause of high quality and fine aroma; vanillin has a high added value in the worldwide market; therefore, this current investigation has been focused on the quantification of vanillin concentration which was collected on three different traditional agroecosystems located on the northeastern Sierra of the state of Puebla, commonly known as Totocapan Region in Mexico. For this, was performed an ethnobotanical exploration on every cultivar to collect V. planifolia crops. Then it ripened through a traditional process, and at the end, a sample was taken and carried out at High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) protocol using methanol. The results showed significant differences in vanillin concentration and were dependent on the cut-off date. In December, we found concentrations of 9.73 g/s, on march 7.86 g/s, and April 14.26 g/s. According to these results, vanilla producers could choose the cut-off dates and negotiate a better price; besides this, V. planifolia has been protected by a denomination of origin. With this result, we can conclude that the crop yield period recommended by the Mexican Standard NMX-FF-074-1996 did not consider the agroecological environmental conditions of the north sierra mountains and northeastern mountains of the state of Puebla, where the present research was performed. The actual regulations correspond to the environmental conditions of the state of Veracruz, where the latitude varies from 10 to 2550 meters above sea level. Therefore, and according to the actual climate that affects the region, it is important to consider this to choose a vanilla crop yielding.