Participates in the biosynthesis of capsaicinoids in pungent cultivars of Capsicum frutescens (PubMed:22921003, PubMed:26048129). Capsaicinoids, the alkaloids responsible for the heat or pungency of chili pepper, are synthesized from phenylpropanoid intermediates in the placental tissue of chili peper fruit (Probable). Can transfer an amine from alanine to vanillin, forming vanillylamine and pyruvate (PubMed:22921003). L-alanine + vanillin = pyruvate + vanillylamine Expressed in placental tissue of immature fruit. Belongs to the class-III pyridoxal-phosphate-dependent aminotransferase family.