The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla

0:00

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay, so picture this.

0:01

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

You are standing right next to a vine that produces,

0:04

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

I mean, arguably a flavor so incredibly complex,

0:07

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

it actually contains over 200 distinct,

0:11

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

highly volatile chemical compounds.

0:13

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Oh, at least 200.

0:14

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah, right.

0:15

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And it's the product of this intense,

0:18

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

month -long cellular transformation.

0:20

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It requires literally thousands of hours of painstaking

0:24

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

manual labor just to cultivate it.

0:26

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Hand labor,

0:27

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

mostly.

0:28

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Exactly.

0:29

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And it triggers this wild global market that,

0:32

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you know, regularly sees this plant's fruit priced higher than solid silver.

0:36

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Which is just crazy to think about.

0:38

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It is.

0:39

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yet, ironically,

0:40

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

if someone looks at you and calls you vanilla,

0:41

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

they are insulting you.

0:42

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right.

0:43

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

They're calling you boring.

0:44

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Completely, utterly boring.

0:46

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So how on earth did the most expensive,

0:48

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

crime -ridden,

0:49

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

chemically intricate plant in your greenhouse become completely synonymous

0:53

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

with the word plain?

0:54

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Well, it is arguably the greatest paradox in the whole culinary world.

0:58

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But to answer that,

0:59

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

we really have to pull back the layers of a story that is vastly more

1:03

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

complicated than what you'd see on a typical botanical placard.

1:06

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Which brings me to you,

1:07

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the listener.

1:08

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Because right now...

1:09

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you are probably getting ready for your volunteer shift,

1:12

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

right? Yep, getting ready to head in.

1:13

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

You are likely heading over to the Dorothy Chapman Fuku Conservatory at the Atlanta Botanical

1:18

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Garden. And you're going to be stationed in that thick,

1:21

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

humid,

1:22

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you know,

1:22

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

tropical greenhouse air.

1:24

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right next to the actual vine.

1:25

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Standing right beside the vanilla plantifolia vine,

1:28

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

gearing up to talk to the visitors today.

1:30

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So our mission with this Deep Dives is to arm you with the

1:34

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

actual reality behind that plant.

1:36

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah, we are totally leaving the basic surface level facts behind today.

1:40

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

We really are.

1:40

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

We're jumping into a global saga that involves ancient Mesoamerican mythology,

1:44

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

enslaved child innovators,

1:47

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

volatile cartels and molecular neuroscience.

1:51

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And we are pulling from a massive stack of sources today that basically

1:55

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

trace this plant's journey from the Aztec Empire all the way to modern

1:59

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

like Norwegian wood pulp factory.

2:02

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Wood pulp.

2:02

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

I still can't get over that part.

2:04

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah, I know.

2:04

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It's wild.

2:05

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But we are going to look at the severe evolutionary flaws of the plant itself

2:09

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and how humanity's obsession with its scent literally reshaped global

2:14

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

agriculture.

2:14

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

OK, let's unpack this supposed boring reputation first,

2:18

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

because this is where the science just instantly shatters our modern preconceptions.

2:23

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Oh, right out of the gate.

2:24

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah, because when I look at that green vine in the conservatory,

2:27

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

I am fully expecting it to smell like a bakery.

2:31

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But the sources are very clear,

2:32

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

like that living green plant has absolutely no

2:37

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

vanilla flavor.

2:37

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

None whatsoever.

2:38

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

I mean, if you were to pluck a fresh,

2:40

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

mature green vanilla pod right off that vine in Atlanta and just snap it in

2:44

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

half under your nose,

2:45

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you would smell essentially nothing.

2:47

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Wait, really?

2:48

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Nothing at all.

2:48

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Maybe a faint kind of grassy green bean scent,

2:51

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

but that's it.

2:52

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The flavor of vanilla is basically a ghost in the living plant.

2:55

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It does not exist until the plant's tissues are systematically broken down

2:59

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and traumatized.

3:00

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay, hold on.

3:00

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

That makes absolutely no evolutionary sense.

3:02

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

I mean, think about biology 101,

3:04

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

right?

3:05

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right.

3:05

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Plants create sweet,

3:06

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

fragrant fruits specifically to attract animals.

3:09

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

That's the standard model,

3:10

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

yeah. An animal eats the fruit,

3:12

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

wanders off,

3:13

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and poops out the seeds,

3:14

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

spreading the plant's genetics.

3:16

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Why would a plant expend all that energy to grow a fruit that

3:21

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

tastes and smells like literally nothing?

3:23

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Well,

3:24

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

because the plant isn't actually trying to attract animals to eat its fruit.

3:28

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Oh.

3:28

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah.

3:29

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

In the dense,

3:30

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

hyper -competitive jungles of its native Mesoamerica,

3:34

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the vanilla orchid is actually trying to protect its seeds from being destroyed

3:38

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

by fungal infections or,

3:39

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you know, aggressive herbivores.

3:41

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Because hiding?

3:41

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Exactly.

3:42

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It developed this brilliant defense mechanism.

3:45

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It takes the core aromatic molecule which we call vanillin and it physically

3:49

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

locks it inside a microscopic chemical cage.

3:53

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

A chemical cage.

3:54

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Like, how does a plant build a cage?

3:55

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Using sugar,

3:56

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

actually.

3:56

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

I mean, sugar.

3:57

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah, the plant binds the vanillin molecule to a sugar molecule,

4:00

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and that creates a new,

4:02

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

completely flavorless,

4:03

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

odorless compound called glucovanillin.

4:06

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Ooh.

4:06

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So as long as the vanillin is attached to that sugar,

4:09

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

it is biologically inert.

4:10

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It is just sitting there,

4:11

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

completely undetectable to any passing animal or insect.

4:14

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay, so if the flavor is locked in a sugar cage,

4:17

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

how does it ever get out?

4:19

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Because, you know,

4:20

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

obviously we figured out how to taste it.

4:22

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right.

4:22

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And this is where we get into the really elegant cellular chemistry of the curing

4:26

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

process.

4:27

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Because inside the cells of that green pod,

4:30

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

right alongside that locked up glucovanillin,

4:33

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the plant also manufactures a specific enzyme.

4:37

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay, what kind of enzyme?

4:38

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It's called beta -glucosidase.

4:40

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Now, you can think of an enzyme as like a biological catalyst.

4:44

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right, like a little machine.

4:45

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Exactly.

4:45

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

A tiny,

4:46

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

highly specialized molecular machine designed to trigger a

4:50

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

specific chemical reaction.

4:52

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But here is the massive catch.

4:55

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

In the living,

4:56

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

healthy plant,

4:56

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the glucovanillin and the beta -glucosidase enzyme

5:00

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

are kept strictly separated.

5:01

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Like in different rooms.

5:02

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

In different compartments of the plant's actual cells,

5:04

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

yeah. Ah, I see.

5:05

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So they're like two highly reactive chemicals just kept in separate vats.

5:09

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

They're totally safe as long as the cell walls remain intact.

5:12

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Precisely.

5:13

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

They only mix when the cellular structure is actually damaged.

5:15

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Oh, so something attacks it.

5:17

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right.

5:17

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

In nature,

5:19

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

if a fungus attacks the pod or some insect bites into it,

5:22

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

those cellular walls break.

5:24

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The enzyme rushes in,

5:26

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

meets the glucovanillin,

5:27

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and basically acts like a microscopic lockpick.

5:31

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Snapping the cage open.

5:32

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yes.

5:32

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It snips off the sugar molecule.

5:35

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And the very moment that sugar is removed,

5:38

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

pure,

5:39

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

highly toxic vanillin is rapidly released to kill the

5:43

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

invading fungus or repel the insect.

5:45

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Wait.

5:46

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Toxic.

5:46

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Well, to fungi and insects,

5:48

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

yes.

5:49

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It is a chemical weapon deployed strictly on demand.

5:52

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

That is wild.

5:53

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So the most beloved flavor on Earth is actually just a deployed

5:57

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

antifungal defense mechanism.

5:59

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Pretty much.

5:59

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So when farmers are harvesting vanilla to make...

6:02

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you know, the ice cream,

6:03

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

they're essentially hijacking this defense system.

6:05

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Exactly.

6:06

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

They have to artificially trigger that chemical reaction,

6:08

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

but they have to do it with just agonizing precision.

6:10

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

You can't just smash the beans on a table.

6:12

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right, because then it would just rot,

6:13

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

probably.

6:14

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Exactly.

6:14

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

You have to guide the decay.

6:15

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And this is called the curing process,

6:17

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and it literally takes months.

6:18

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

First, the farmers have to,

6:20

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

quote unquote, kill the green pod to stop its vegetative growth and break down

6:24

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

those internal cellular walls we talked about.

6:26

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

How do they kill it?

6:27

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Traditionally,

6:28

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

this is done by plunging the green beans into scalding hot water for just

6:32

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

a few minutes.

6:33

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So they shock the system,

6:34

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the walls collapse,

6:36

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the enzyme meets the locked up flavor,

6:38

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and the reaction begins.

6:40

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yes,

6:41

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

but the reaction needs time and heat to fully develop.

6:44

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So after that hot water bath,

6:46

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the beans are wrapped tightly in wool blankets and packed into these wooden boxes

6:51

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

to sweat.

6:52

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Sweat?

6:52

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Like, for how long?

6:53

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

For a couple of days initially.

6:55

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The high humidity and trapped heat act like an incubator,

6:59

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

accelerating the enzymes work.

7:00

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay, that sounds intense.

7:02

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It is.

7:03

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And then over the next several months,

7:04

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the beans are taken out to bake in the hot tropical sun during the day and then packed

7:09

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

back into the sweaty boxes at night.

7:11

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Day after day.

7:11

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Day after day.

7:13

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Slowly, the pod shrinks,

7:15

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

it turns from green to that deep dark brown we all recognize,

7:18

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and that enzyme steadily snips away the sugar cages,

7:21

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

releasing the vanillin.

7:23

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But the vanillin isn't the only thing in there,

7:25

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

right?

7:26

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Because earlier you said there were over 200 compounds.

7:28

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

If the enzyme is just releasing vanillin,

7:31

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

where do all the other flavors come from?

7:32

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Oh, they come from the controlled fermentation and oxidation that's happening

7:36

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

during all those months of sun drying and boxing.

7:38

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Oh,

7:39

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

so the bean is basically cooking itself in the sun.

7:41

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Essentially, yeah.

7:42

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

While the vanillin is becoming the dominant note.

7:45

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The complex fats,

7:47

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the amino acids,

7:48

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and the remaining sugars in the pod are breaking down into a vast array of

7:52

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

other volatile organic compounds.

7:54

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Like what kind of compounds?

7:55

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Well, you get eugenol,

7:56

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

which adds a spicy,

7:58

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

almost clove -like note.

7:59

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

You get piperonal,

8:01

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

which brings this floral,

8:02

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

kind of cherry -like sweetness.

8:04

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Wow.

8:05

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

There are hints of leather,

8:06

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

earth, rum,

8:07

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and even smoke.

8:08

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So calling this boring...

8:11

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

is literally like looking at a massive 200 -piece symphony orchestra.

8:15

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

You know,

8:16

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you've got the strings,

8:17

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the heavy brass,

8:17

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the delicate woodwinds,

8:19

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

all playing in perfect harmony and calling it elevator music.

8:22

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

That is a phenomenal way to put it,

8:24

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

honestly, because the depth of real,

8:27

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

traditionally cured vanilla is just staggering.

8:30

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It really sounds like it.

8:31

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

In fact,

8:32

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

if the curing process is executed flawlessly like,

8:35

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

if the sweating and drawing are perfectly timed,

8:37

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the concentration of vanillin becomes so intense that the pure molecule

8:41

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

is physically pushed out through the pores of the bean's skin.

8:45

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Wait, it pushes out of the bean?

8:46

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah. It hits the air and crystallizes.

8:49

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It forms this breathtaking,

8:51

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

sparkling white frost on the outside of the dark,

8:55

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

wrinkled pod.

8:56

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

No way.

8:56

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah, the French actually call it...

8:59

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

which translates to frost.

9:01

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So if you ever hold a vanilla bean that looks like it has been dusted with tiny

9:05

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

sparkling diamonds,

9:06

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you are literally looking at pure crystallized flavor pushing

9:10

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

its way into the world.

9:11

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

A frosted symphony of 200 molecules.

9:14

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

That is amazing.

9:15

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah.

9:15

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

That is what you,

9:16

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the volunteer,

9:17

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

are looking at in the conservatory.

9:18

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Exactly.

9:19

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But okay, let's take a step back here.

9:21

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

I understand the intense labor of the curing process now,

9:24

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

but that happens after the harvest.

9:27

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The sources indicate that the real nightmare,

9:29

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the reason this plant is such a chaotic force in global agriculture,

9:33

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

happens long before a pot ever forms.

9:35

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It is about the flower itself.

9:37

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yes, absolutely.

9:38

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

To understand why vanilla dictates entire economies,

9:41

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you really have to look at its fundamental botany.

9:44

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay, let's get into the botany.

9:45

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And the first thing you have to grasp is just the sheer scale of the orchid family.

9:49

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Which is huge,

9:50

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

right? A behemoth.

9:51

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The orchid family,

9:52

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

orchideshi,

9:53

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

contains over 25 ,000 recognized species.

9:56

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

25 ,000?

9:58

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah.

9:58

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And they have a...

10:06

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But the sources highlight one incredibly specific statistic

10:10

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

about the vanilla planifolia vine you were standing next to.

10:14

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Out of all those thousands of species across the entire globe,

10:17

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

this is the only orchid cultivated for an edible commercial fruit.

10:21

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The only one.

10:22

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

One out of 25 ,000.

10:24

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And when you look at how insanely difficult it is to grow,

10:27

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you really start to understand why it stands alone.

10:30

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah, the plant seems to actively resist reproduction.

10:33

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It really does.

10:34

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Let's look at the flower itself.

10:35

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It is large.

10:37

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

quite beautiful,

10:37

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and it's a pale greenish yellow.

10:40

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right.

10:41

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It's not the deep,

10:41

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

dark black color people might assume based on the cured pods.

10:44

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

No,

10:45

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

not at all.

10:45

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But the cruel joke of this flower is its lifespan.

10:49

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Ooh,

10:49

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the blooming window.

10:50

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

I read about this.

10:51

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It's brutal.

10:52

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The vanilla flower opens for exactly one single day.

10:55

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

One day.

10:56

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

In reality,

10:57

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the optimal window for pollination is often just a matter of hours in the very

11:01

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

early morning.

11:02

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

As the afternoon heat sets in,

11:04

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the flower just begins to close.

11:06

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And if it doesn't get pollinated.

11:08

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

If it hasn't been pollinated within that microscopic window of time,

11:11

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the flower simply wilts,

11:13

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

dies,

11:13

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and drops off the vine to the jungle floor.

11:16

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Just like that.

11:17

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yep.

11:17

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

There is no second bloom,

11:19

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

no second chance.

11:20

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

If you miss the morning,

11:21

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you lose the pod,

11:22

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

which means you lose the vanilla.

11:23

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But wait.

11:24

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Flowers pollinate themselves all the time.

11:26

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Or they let the wind glow the pollen around.

11:28

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Why is the vanilla flower so exceptionally bad at reproducing?

11:33

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It's a great question.

11:34

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Why is it on this crazy ticking clock with no backup plan?

11:38

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Well,

11:38

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

because it evolved a highly specific anatomical barrier to actively

11:43

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

prevent self -pollination.

11:44

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Why, it stops itself from reproducing.

11:46

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yes.

11:46

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Evolutionary biologists believe this was a strategy to force cross

11:50

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

-pollination.

11:52

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

I mean, if a plant fertilizes itself,

11:54

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

it basically creates a clone which completely limits genetic diversity.

11:58

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Oh, so it's trying to stay healthy as a species.

12:00

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Exactly.

12:00

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

By forcing an insect to carry pollen to a different flower,

12:04

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the plant mixes its genetics,

12:06

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

making the whole species more resilient to disease.

12:09

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So over millions of years,

12:11

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the vanilla orchid developed a physical shield inside its flower.

12:15

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay,

12:16

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

lay out the anatomy for me here.

12:17

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

How does this shield actually work?

12:19

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay, picture this.

12:20

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Deep inside the throat of the flower,

12:22

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you have the male organ,

12:23

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the anther,

12:24

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

which produces and holds the pollen.

12:26

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right, the anther.

12:27

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And right below it is the female organ,

12:29

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the stigma, which is this sticky receptacle that needs to receive the pollen to

12:33

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

trigger the growth of the fruit.

12:34

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay, simple enough.

12:36

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But nestled directly between the anther and the stigma is a thin,

12:40

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

completely impermeable flap of tissue,

12:42

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

a membrane.

12:44

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Botanists call it the rustellum.

12:46

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The rostellum.

12:47

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Let's make sure we define that clearly.

12:48

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So it acts like a closed door between the pollen and the stigma.

12:51

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Exactly like a locked door.

12:53

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Because of the rostellum,

12:54

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the pollen can literally sit millimeters away from the stigma.

12:58

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But gravity or wind can never push them together.

13:01

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Wow, that's frustrating.

13:02

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The plant cannot fertilize itself under any circumstances.

13:05

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It requires an external force.

13:07

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Something has to enter the flower.

13:10

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

physically lift that rostellum flap up and out of the way,

13:13

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and then smash the pollen from the anther down onto the sticky

13:17

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

stigma.

13:17

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Which brings us to a massive point that you...

13:21

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the volunteer,

13:21

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

are definitely going to encounter.

13:23

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Oh, they hear this all the time.

13:24

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah.

13:24

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

If you read almost any popular history book on vanilla,

13:27

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

or watch a food documentary,

13:29

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

or even read some older botanical garden placards,

13:31

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

you will hear a very specific,

13:34

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

confident story about how this flower gets pollinated in the wild.

13:38

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right.

13:38

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

You will hear about a tiny,

13:40

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

stingless insect called the meloponibi.

13:42

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Let's explore.

13:43

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

explicitly set the record straight right now.

13:45

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah. The story of the Melipona bee being the magical exclusive pollinator of

13:49

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

vanilla is a myth.

13:51

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Let me repeat,

13:52

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

that is a myth.

13:52

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It is a pervasive,

13:53

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

deeply entrenched myth,

13:55

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and it is vital that we explicitly correct it.

13:57

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Where did it even come from?

13:58

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

This narrative has been repeated as gospel since the 1830s.

14:02

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It was heavily promoted by a Belgian botanist named Charles

14:06

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Morin.

14:07

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

He was desperately trying to explain why the vanilla vines growing in European

14:11

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

greenhouses were completely sterile.

14:14

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Right.

14:14

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Because they were taking them out of Mexico.

14:15

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Exactly.

14:16

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So he confidently proclaimed that only this specific stingless

14:20

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

melopona bee,

14:21

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

native only to Mexico,

14:22

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

knew the secret architectural layout of the flower,

14:26

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and therefore vanilla could never ever fruit naturally outside of

14:30

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

its home region.

14:31

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But I'm assuming modern entomologists have actually bothered to watch the bees

14:35

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

in Mexico.

14:36

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

They have.

14:37

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

And the modern science completely unravels Morin's claim.

14:40

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

I mean, the simple physics of the interaction just don't work.

14:43

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

What do you mean?

14:44

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The melopona bee is a very small insect.

14:46

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

When researchers set up cameras and observe stingless melopona bees visiting

14:51

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

wild vanilla flowers,

14:52

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

they see that the bees are just too tiny.

14:53

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Oh, they literally can't reach it.

14:55

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

They lack the physical mass and leverage required to push past the flower's lip,

14:59

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

lift...

15:00

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

that stiff rostellum membrane and transfer the pollen.

15:02

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

They crawl around,

15:04

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

they might collect some nectar,

15:05

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

but they are absolutely not reliably contacting the sexual organs.

15:09

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay, so is it in this legendary little stingless bee who's actually

15:13

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

doing the heavy lifting in the wild?

15:15

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Current entomological research points heavily toward orchid bees,

15:18

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

specifically from the euglossine tribe.

15:21

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Euglossine,

15:21

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

yeah. These are much larger,

15:23

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

stronger bees,

15:24

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

often a...

15:25

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

brilliant metallic green or blue color,

15:27

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

they actually have the physical bulk to pry the flower open and bypass

15:31

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the rostellum.

15:32

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

So they just muzzle their way in?

15:34

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Pretty much.

15:35

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

But here is the truly shocking part.

15:37

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Even with the larger orchid bees present in the ecosystem,

15:40

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

natural pollination is incredibly,

15:42

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

almost disastrously rare.

15:44

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Really?

15:45

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

How rare are we talking?

15:46

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

We have concrete data on this.

15:47

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

There was a major field study published in PLOS 1 just recently

15:51

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

in July of 2024.

15:53

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Brand new data.

15:54

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Yeah, conducted right in the Yucatan region of Mexico,

15:57

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the plant's native heartland,

15:58

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and it revealed some startling numbers.

16:00

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

The researchers carefully monitored wild vanilla plantifolia populations.

16:05

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

They found that the natural fruit set sow,

16:08

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the percentage of flowers that successfully turned into pods without human help,

16:12

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

was around 5%.

16:14

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Wait, 5 %?

16:16

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

That is an abysmal success rate for a species just trying to survive.

16:20

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

It gets worse.

16:21

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Even when the researchers intervened and artificially introduced massive colonies

16:26

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

of melopona bees to the area and deployed chemical pheromone lures to attract

16:30

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

swarms of the larger orchid bees,

16:32

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the pollination rate barely budged.

16:34

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

You're kidding.

16:35

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Nope. The insects showed up,

16:37

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

they visited the flowers,

16:38

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

but they just didn't consistently do the specific mechanical job required to lift

16:42

S… Speaker 2 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

the rostellum.

16:43

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

Okay, this brings up a massive logical gap.

16:46

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

If natural pollination in its native habitat is sitting at a 5 % success rate

16:50

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

and the famous dedicated Melopona bee is a total myth,

16:55

S… Speaker 1 (The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla)

how did this plant survive?

The_High_Stakes_of_Plain_Vanilla

خلاصو

AI کان ان ترانسڪريپٽ بابت پڇو