Valuable Islands Product
p. 17 · Read in the full issue
Tonka Beans
Contributed by Charles Reed, Horticulturist, Apia.
ALTHOUGH little known outside its native tropics, the Tonka Bean (Diptera oderata), a small tree with fragrant seeds, which produce the well known Tincture of Tonka, is destined to rank high in competition with commer cial vanilla extract.
In Samoa, a crop of these fragrant beans was recently gathered from one single tree, which, when macerated in spirit for three days, yielded a quart of ticture. This may be used in the place of vanilla, which it much resembles— and takes the place of the very many poor imitation vanilla concoctions, often placed on the market.
The fruit is an oblong, fibrous pod con
taining one almond-shaped black seed.
The pods are retted, and the seed removed and sun-dried. The seed will be found to have remarkable keeping quali ties over several years, when packed in jars. I |, For household purposes, one single Tonka Bean tree will provide enough beans to make essence, perfume, and even sachet-powder. The market price has fluctuated between 20/- to around 7/- per lb. for the dried beans.