Tonka bean oil Tonka bean oil Tonka bean oil is extracted from the seed of "Dipteryx odorata". The oil is composed primarily of coumarin, which is used to flavor tobacco. It is neither a pressed oil, nor an essential oil, but was traditionally obtained by soaking the large, single tonka bean seed in rum or other alcohol for 24 hours, after which crystals of coumarin appear on the outside of the seed, and are then collected. The seeds contain up to 46% oil by dry weight. In recent years, most commercially produced coumarin are synthetic, which has reduced the demand for tonka beans
Vanilla along the Indian Ocean; "V. tahitensis", grown in the South Pacific; and "V. pompona", found in the West Indies, Central America, and South America. The majority of the world's vanilla is the "V. planifolia" species, more commonly known as Bourbon vanilla (after the former name of Réunion, Île Bourbon) or Madagascar vanilla, which is produced in Madagascar and neighboring islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean, and in Indonesia. Combined, Madagascar and Indonesia produce two-thirds of the world's supply of vanilla. Vanilla is the second-most expensive spice after saffron because growing the vanilla seed pods is labor-intensive. Despite the expense, vanilla