Improved determination of vanillin and related phenolic components in vanilla (Vanilla fragrans (Salisb.) Ames) by high‐performance liquid chromatography

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Abstract
This paper describes a reverse‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the separation, identification and quantification of vanillin and related phenolic compounds in ethanolic extracts of cured vanilla. The compounds were separated on a silica column, bonded with pentafluorophenyl, using a mobile phase gradient of methanol–citric acid with diode‐array detection at 275 nm. Vanillin, vanillic acid, p‐hydroxybenzoic acid and p‐hydroxybenzaldehyde were identified by the spectral data and retention times given by reference compounds. Retention times and spectral data for a further 36 compounds are presented. The new HPLC technique allows a more accurate means of determining the vanillin content of vanilla than the ISO spectrophotometric assay.