How to Use vanillin in a Sentence

vanillin

noun
  • For these types of recipes, the vanillin flavor of imitation vanilla can perform just as well.
    — Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 22 Nov. 2025
  • That’s just the flavor compound vanillin crystallizing on the surface.
    — Paul Stephen, San Antonio Express-News, 13 Dec. 2021
  • Thanks to the addition of vanillin and cloves, Golden Hour actually smells good.
    — Aliza Abarbanel, Bon Appétit, 23 July 2021
  • One of the substances with the lowest odor detection threshold is vanillin, the main component of vanilla extract.
    — Randall Munroe, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2020
  • Imitation vanillin extracted from lignin or guaiacol is very standard, rather than distinct.
    — Simran Sethi, Smithsonian, 3 Apr. 2017
  • So much sulfur made it into the stratosphere that sulfuric acid as strong as battery acid rained across the planet, indicated by traces of vanillin in fossil soils from that time.
    — Howard Lee, Ars Technica, 9 Nov. 2017
  • Chemically, guaiacol is similar to a lot of other whiskey aroma compounds like vanillin (with the scent of vanilla) and limonene (citrus).
    — Jenna Gallegos, chicagotribune.com, 17 Aug. 2017
  • Because both chemical compounds are similar, the microbes could easily transform the acid into vanillin.
    — Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 June 2021
  • Finkelstein thinks the vanillin probably arrived in the Middle East through extensive Bronze Age trade routes.
    — Franz Lidz, Smithsonian, 11 July 2019
  • One flavorant, ethyl vanillin – for vanilla notes – decreased free radical production by 42 percent.
    — Rita Giordano, Philly.com, 17 Apr. 2018
  • The 1925 icon, worn by the likes of Brigitte Bardot and Frida Kahlo, was one of the first to employ the help of ethyl vanillin.
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Imitation vanilla, on the other hand, is a budget-friendly alternative made from synthetic vanillin.
    — Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 22 Nov. 2025
  • The enzymes that transform the glucovanillin in the plant into vanillin – the molecule that gives vanilla its distinctive aroma – emerge only through curing.
    — The Economist, 5 July 2019
  • Tong’s investigation arrives on the heels of a Yale study, which highlights some of the unknown dangers of vanillin, a popular e-liquid flavoring.
    — Michael Hamad, courant.com, 6 Aug. 2019
  • One recent study from Yale University found that vanillin — an extract of the vanilla bean — transforms into chemicals called acetals when aerosolized.
    — NBC News, 3 Sep. 2019
  • In high-heat applications like baked cookies, cake, or dessert bars, the flavor compounds of real vanilla can break down, leaving mostly vanillin as the main flavoring in the final products.
    — Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 22 Nov. 2025
  • Real vanilla extract has over 200 flavor compounds, including vanillin, tannins, and essential oils.
    — Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 22 Nov. 2025
  • According to distillers, charring the barrel opens up the wood to allow more interaction with the whiskey, releases flavor compounds like vanillin, and acts as a filter to remove unwanted notes.
    — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 10 Dec. 2021
  • In 2014, the group approached Nestlé requesting a statement regarding the use of synbio vanillin in its Häagen-Dazs ice cream.
    — David Ferry, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2015
  • The presence of vanillin and 4-hydroxbenzaldehyde also isn’t enough to reveal exactly where in the world vanilla was being harvested at the time, how it was used, or what eventually happened to the crop.
    — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 20 Nov. 2018
  • To a bottle, the wines project lush artificial cherry flavors, bits of vanillin and oak, soft tannins — and usually a palpable level of residual sugar, serving to mask whatever flaws may lie within.
    — Patrick Comiskey, latimes.com, 15 June 2017
  • That list of chemicals includes creosol (associated with the smoky peat flavor of Scotch whisky), syringol (responsible for clovelike flavors), and vanillin (source of a vanilla-ish sweetness in smoke).
    — Steven Raichlen, New York Times, 29 June 2018
  • Ingredients include water, maltitol, cocoa, celluose gum, caramel color, natural and artificial flavor, vanillin and salt.
    — Atlanta Life, ajc, 4 Apr. 2018
  • Though Firmenich also supplies synthetic and natural vanillin flavors derived from clove, cinnamon and wood, real vanilla is a luxury that needs to be preserved at the source, says Ghostine.
    — Aryn Baker/sahabevava, Time, 13 June 2018
  • Queeny’s coal-tar drug company, Monsanto, was also flush from lucrative contracts with Coca-Cola, who bought their caffeine, vanillin, and saccharin.
    — Rebecca Altman, The Atlantic, 4 Oct. 2017
  • The same strategy worked 100% of the time when researchers asked the AI to tell them how to synthesize vanillin, the organic compound that provides vanilla’s scent, before asking how to synthesize lidocaine.
    — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 2 Sep. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vanillin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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