0 a small black bean that tastes of vanilla and is used in perfume, and to give flavour to food, especially desserts --
Houbigant was also the first perfume house to discover how to isolate particular molecules from natural raw materials and more specifically the coumarin, which is isolated from tonka bean.
The notes consisted of osmanthus, ripe red berries and cyclamen, notes of orchid, gardenia and fresh freesia as well as notes of amber, sandalwood and tonka beans.
Its seeds are known as tonka beans (sometimes tonkin beans or tonquin beans).
In more recent years, most commercially produced coumarin is synthetic, which has reduced the demand for tonka beans as a crop.
The fragrance contains bergamot, lemon, jasmine, rose, iris, incense, opopanax, tonka bean, and vanilla.
These often contain notes like vanilla, tonka bean and coumarin, as well as synthetic components designed to resemble food flavors.
