Edmond Albius - Inventor of the Vanilla Pollination Method
Edmond Albius - Inventor of the Vanilla Pollination Method- Edmond Albius, was
born in 1829 in Sainte Suzanne, Réunion Island that is adjacent to Madagascar
Island. He is a prominent figure in the world of agriculture for discovering
how to pollinate the vanilla plant. It’s quite startle because of his background
because he just a slave. But from this method that he found, the vanilla plant can
produce a lot of fruit. Historically, his journey was pathetic. Edmond Albius
was born as a slave and left by his mother, Mélise, since his birth. However,
she was later adopted by the French nobleman Fereol Bellier Beaumont and
afterward became his slave.
History of Vanilla
Broadly speaking, the vanilla plant is a plant
that comes from the Mexican Territory. The Totonac people in Mexico who
inhabited the Veracruz region, Mexico is the first tribes to cultivate this
plant in the 15th century. This tribe dried the fruit of this vine
and used it as a spice for thousands of years.
In 1400, the Aztecs invaded this region and
began to cultivate this plant. They call it the Nahuatl term tlilxochitl,
or "black flower". In 1519, the Spaniard Hernán Cortés (a
nobleman and explorer) introduced it to Europe and called it "small pod
/ small pod, or vainilla. In 1703, a French botanist named Charles
Plumier later named it "vanilla".
Over time, vanilla has become increasingly
popular in Europe and has begun to be widely used. Anne of Austria, who was the
daughter of the King of Spain i.e. Philip III, drank it with hot chocolate.
Queen Elizabeth I of England also ate it with pudding. However, the increasing
demand for vanilla, the supply cannot be matched. Many difficulties were faced
at that time to boost vanilla production. This is because there has not been
found an effective way to produce large amounts of vanilla pod per plant.
Early Discovery of Edmond Albius and His Journey
Over the centuries, many experts / scientists
have tried to produce its fruit. At that time, this type of plant is very
difficult to bear fruit so many people are competing to solve this problem. A
plant expert named Charles François Antoine Morren then tried to cross
this plant but it doesn’t work. Until finally, a 12-year-old boy, Edmond
Albius, discovered the method of crossing vanilla by hand in 1841. This
discovery eventually became a factor that played a role in the widespread
distribution of vanilla plants in the world.
This discovery was motivated by Edmond's relationship with
Fereol Bellier Beaumont. Fereol loves plants and has a abundant
collection including vanilla plants. Edmond was also interested in studying
plants and had a high curiosity. In the Fereol garden, there is vanilla that the
age was about 10 years old but it can’t bear fruit (sterile plant). Edwin
Albius then tried to cross this plant using a bamboo stick the size of a
toothpick. This method is commonly used by vanilla farmers/cultivators all over
the word.
The presence of several pods that appeared startled Fereol.
Edmond confessed to his boss that he had crossed it. Ferreol initially did not
believe the way that was done by Edwin Albius. But as more and more fruit is
produced, he begins to believe in it.
As a result of this incident, Ferreol then was invited many
other vanilla landowners to see the method of mating vanilla. Edmond Albius
demonstrated directly to them. As a result of this discovery, a lot of vanilla
that managed to bear fruit so that he was then asked to travel to various
places in various parts of the world to teach how to cross vanilla. Of course,
the longer the vanilla production is increasing from time to time.
After this discovery he made and his
contribution to vanilla farming, not everything was going well for him. There
are bad things that still happen to him. When he left the farm and headed for
an urban area, he was accused of theft for which he was imprisoned. However,
after 3 years in prison, Ferreol managed to free him.
To date, his findings have certainly boosted
world vanilla production. There is an shocking economic impact. Many products
in the world are produced using vanilla as raw material. Vanilla is considered
as green gold because it has a high price in the market. Products made
from chocolate, soda-based drinks (Coca-cola, Pepsi), health products, beauty
products, and candles are some examples of product outputs that use vanilla in
the manufacturing process.
The life story of Edmond Albius ended on August
9, 1880 at the age of 51 years. Even though he was a slave with all his
limitations, he had helped build the world's vanilla industry with his
inventions. Creating delicious food and drinks for its consumers.
Thank you and hopefully You can Enjoy The day.
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Source Reference Edmond Albius - Inventor of the Vanilla Pollination Method
Ashton, K. 2015. How a Child Slave Created a
Billion-Dollar Business. Accessed via
https://medium.com/galleys/the-child-slave-changed-the-world-3493b5ab1ba8 on
February 10, 2024.
Krulwich, L. 2015. The Little Boy Who Should've
Vanished, but Didn't. Accessed via
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2015/06/16/the-little-boy-who-shouldve-vanished-but-didnt/
on 11 February 2024.
Wikipedia.2020.Edmond Albius. Accessed via
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Albius on 17 February 2024.