Micropropagation of Orchid Vanilla planifolia

Vanilla planifolia is an herbaceous climbing orchid and a tropical commercial spice crop. This exotic orchid, the beans of which on processing yields the popular, commercial flavouring agent "vanillin" which rules the world of edible flavours. Vanillin has been used in flavouring cakes, chocolate and some beverages. In addition, it serves also as the main component in cosmetics and perfume industry. Vanilla is a vine orchid; their seeds do not usually germinate. Thus, vanilla is propagated mainly by stem cuttings. But, the method is slow, labour intensive and time consuming. It is also uneconomical as the harvest of stems (cuttings of 60 - 120 cm long) for propagation arrest the growth and development of the mother plant.Hence, it is imperative to exploit the potential of tissue culture to effectively multiply and supply the required amount of planting materials for large scale plantation of vanilla.This book will help the growers to keep themselves abreast of the latest developments along with methods of mass propagation of vanilla through various explants. This book will cater to the immediate needs of the students, researcher, faculty members and horticultural industries.