Ep. 404 - The Secrets of Vanilla Dispersal

In Defense of Plants Podcast

In Defense of Plants

Botany, Natural Sciences, Ecology, Nature, Plants, Science

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2023

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Vanilla scent and flavoring is loved the world over, but what is the story behind vanillin, the compound responsible for producing these properties? Many theories as to its ecological function have been put forward over the last century and finally we can put the debate to rest. My guest today is Dr. Adam Karremans who teamed up with a handful of biologists to observe and experiment with Vanilla fruits to understand why these orchids produce one of the world's most delightful compounds. Join us as we learn about its role in seed dispersal and how bees and rodents get involved. This episode was produced in part by Paul, Karen, Randi, Caelan, Tom, Don, Susan, Corbin, Keena, Robin, Peter, Whitney, Kenned, Margaret, Daniel, Karen, David, Earl, Jocelyn, Gary, Krysta, Elizabeth, Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts, Pattypollinators, Peter, Judson, Ella, Alex, Dan, Pamela, Peter, Andrea, Nathan, Karyn, Michelle, Jillian, Chellie, Linda, Laura, Miz Holly, Christie, Carlos, Paleo Fern, Levi, Sylvia, Lanny, Ben, Lily, Craig, Sarah, Lor, Monika, Brandon, Jeremy, Suzanne, Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Mohsin Kazmi Takes Pictures, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensible Plants podcast, the official podcast of Indefensibleplants.com. What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week? I'm doing great because I have a very tasty episode here for you today. And I'm kind of being facetious, but not really, because we are talking about vanilla, both the genus and the flavor, because you can't have vanilla without the genus vanilla, which is a wonderful group of
0:25.0	tribes. vanilla, both the genus and the flavor, because you can't have vanilla without the genus
0:22.9	vanilla, which is a wonderful group of tropical orchids that have a very weird natural history.
0:27.8	And along with his colleagues, my guest today has uncovered a really important aspect
0:31.7	of vanilla natural history, and that has to do with seed dispersal, one of the most
0:36.7	important events in any plant's life. I don't want to steal any of usal, one of the most important events in any
0:37.8	plant's life. I don't want to steal any of us thunder, but I will say it involves bees and rodents
0:42.4	and in ways you might not expect. So I don't want to waste any more time. Let's just jump right
0:47.4	into it. Without further ado, here's my conversation with Dr. Adam Caramans. I hope you enjoy.
1:11.1	Yeah. Dr. Adam Caramans. I hope you enjoy. All right, Dr. Adam Caramans, thank you so much for coming back to the podcast. Welcome, welcome, welcome.
1:14.1	I am so excited for this work because it's been a long time in the works.
1:19.3	But for those that haven't heard your previous episodes, tell everyone a little bit about who you are and what it is you do.
1:27.0	Sure. Thanks so much, Matt, for inviting me again. I really enjoy your podcast. we we should all be out there defending plants.
1:32.0	So, you know, I really appreciate it. Thank you. Well, I'm Adam Caramans. I am director of Lancaster
1:41.5	Botanical Gardens in Costa Rica. It is a research center that belongs to the University of Costa Rica.
1:50.0	It's publicly funded, so that makes it interesting and unique in a way.
1:56.0	And it is specialized on orchids.
1:58.0	So we do orchid research. Everything you could think about when you think
2:06.4	about orchids is our business. So we mostly work on Costa Rican plants and Latin American plants,
2:14.8	but we also do a lot of ecology and taxonomy, systematics, phylogenetics,
2:22.5	even in vitro culture, germination studies on orchids around the world.
2:28.4	Excellent. Yeah, I always love having you on because I know I'm going to learn something new
	...

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