Tonka bean, whole

Background: Tonka bean, with its vanilla-like, rich and pleasing fragrance has been used commercially as a vanilla substitute, in perfume, and in tobacco smoking mixtures. The common name of tonka is found in Carib and Tupi languages. The regional name kumaru informed the previous genus name of Coumarouna, from which the constituent name coumarin is derived.

Coumarin is a chemical constituent of many, many plants: tonka beans, lavender, licorice, strawberries, apricots, cherries, cinnamon, and sweet clover are just a few.

Old cookbooks sometimes list tonka as a flavoring ingredient in cake, cookie recipes.

Applications:

Perfumery: Tonka bean is used to add fragrance to emollients: salves, creams, cosmetic preparations, and oil, and for direct scenting of botanicals.

Background: Antispasmodic, emmenagogic, cardiotonic,
and anti-asthmatic. Bean and bark have been used for centuries by indigenous people of the
Amazon. Bean, prepared as a fermentation in rum, are used to make an application to snakebites, cuts, contusions, coughs, and rheumatism. oil is topically used to relieve earaches and to treat infections.

Tonka beans contain up to 10% coumarin. This natural plant chemical has anti-coagulant blood thinning properties and is used in many pharmaceutical products, however, in high amounts coumarin can cause liver damage.