PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF NATURAL VANILLA EXTRACT BY ENZYMATIC PROCESSING OF GREEN VANILLA PODS, AND EXTRACT THEREBY OBTAINED

摘要

Process for the production of natural vanilla extract, consisting in processing crushed green vanilla pods by means of an enzymatic system capable of destroying plant cell membrane systems and hydrolyzing glycosylic precursors of volatile compounds. Preferably, the enzymatic system consists of one or more enzymes having a gloucosidase activity, the number of glucosidase units per gram of green vanilla pods being between 20 and 500 units. The process substantially reduces the time for transforming the aromatic precursors of the pod, especially glucovanillin into vanillin with, moreover, an excellent yield. The present invention also concerns natural vanilla extract obtained by said process.