Vanilla pompona

Vanilla pompona is a species of vanilla orchid. It is native to Mexico and northern South America,[3] and is one of the sources for vanilla flavouring, due to its high vanillin content.

Vanilla pompona
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Vanilloideae
Genus: Vanilla
Species:
V. pompona
Binomial name
Vanilla pompona
Synonyms[2]
  • Notylia pompona (Schiede) Conz.

Vanilla pompona found in the Peruvian Amazon has been tested using HPLC analysis showing a concentration of vanillin content up to 9.88g/100g[4] making it suitable for the food or cosmetic industry.

Description
Vanilla pompona flower
Vanilla pompona flower

Like all members of the genus Vanilla, V. pompona is a vine. It uses its fleshy roots to support itself as it grows. Its leaves and stems are generally thicker than in V. planifolia and V. phaeantha.[5]

Pollination

V. pompona is one of the few Vanilla species for which there is definitive identification of the agents responsible for pollination; a study found that males of a medium-sized orchid bee, Eulaema cingulata, remove and transfer pollen of V. pompona in Peru, apparently while they are searching for nectar that the flowers do not possess.[6] Other bee species visit the flowers, but larger species cannot fit inside to reach the floral reproductive organs, and smaller species do not make physical contact with the stigma; of several observed floral visitors, only E. cingulata was within the necessary size range to accomplish pollen transfer.[6]

References
  1. Herrera-Cabrera, B.E.; Hernández, M.; Vega, M.; Wegier, A. (2020). "Vanilla pompona". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T105878897A173977322. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T105878897A173977322.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species, retrieved 26 January 2016
  3. e-monocot.org, retrieved 26 January 2016
  4. vanillapompona.com, retrieved 26 January 2016
  5. James D. Ackerman, "Vanilla Miller, Gard. Dict. Abr., ed. 4. vol. 3. 1754", Flora of North America, vol. 26
  6. Watteyn, C., Scaccabarozzi, D., Muys, B., Van Der Schueren, N., Van Meerbeek, K., Guizar Amador, M. F., Ackerman, J. D., Cedeño Fonseca, M. V., Chinchilla Alvarado, I. F., Reubens, B., Pillco Huarcaya, R., Cozzolino, S., & Karremans, A. P. (2022). Trick or treat? Pollinator attraction in Vanilla pompona (Orchidaceae). Biotropica 54: 268– 274. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13034


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