Vanilla is a climbing terrestrial orchid grown in warm humid tropics. It is the second most expensive flavouring spice after saffron. Vanilla planifolia is the commercially grown variety. Growing of vanilla beans is quite complicated and labour intensive and its processing is a slow process requiring skills. Quality of vanilla beans depends on the vanillin content (minimum 1.8-2.0% normally) and presence of 250 aromatics. Vanilla has a wide application. Beans are used for producing extracts, flavours, oleoresins and powders and have a wide range of use in dairy products, ice creams, for flavouring tobacco, liquors, beverages and confectionaries, savoury applications, medicinal purposes, health and personal care products and as an odour maskant in tires, paints and industrial chemicals.