Dipteryx odorata

Dipteryx odorata (commonly known as "cumaru", "kumaru", or "Brazilian teak") is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. The tree is native to Northern South America and is semi-deciduous. Its seeds are known as tonka beans, but sometimes spelled tonkin beans or tonquin beans (not related to Tonkin). The seeds are black and wrinkled and have a smooth, brown interior. They have a strong fragrance similar to sweet woodruff due to their high content of coumarin.

The word tonka is taken from the Galibi (Carib) tongue spoken by natives of French Guiana; it also appears in Tupi, another language of the same region, as the name of the tree.^{[citation needed]} The old genus name, Coumarouna, was formed from another Tupi name for the tree, kumaru.

Many anticoagulant prescription drugs, such as warfarin, are based on 4-hydroxycoumarin, a chemical derivative of coumarin initially isolated from this bean. Coumarin itself, however, does not have anticoagulant properties.

The tree grows up to 25–30 m (82–98 ft), with a trunk of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in diameter. The tree bark is smooth and gray, whereas the wood is red. The tree has alternate pinnate leaves with three to six leaflets, leathery, glossy and dark green, and pink flowers. Each developed fruit contains one seed. D. odorata is pollinated by insects. The worst pests are bats because they eat the pulpy flesh of the fruit. A few known fungi may cause problems: Anthostomella abdita, Diatrype ruficarnis, Macrophoma calvuligera and Myiocopron cubense.

Radio-carbon dating of D. odorata stumps left by a large logging operation near Manaus by Niro Higuchi, Jeffrey Chambers, and Joshua Schimel, showed that it was one of around 100 species which definitely live to over 1,000 years (specifically an age of 1400 years being claimed for this and the unrelated Cariniana macrantha). Until their research, it had been assumed unlikely that any Amazonian tree could live to old age due to the conditions of the rain forest.

The tonka seed contains coumarin, a chemical isolate named after the plant. The seeds normally contain about 1 to 3% of coumarin, but can rarely achieve levels up to 10%. Coumarin is responsible for the seed's pleasant odor and is used in the perfume industry. Coumarin is bitter to the taste. In large infused doses, it may cause hemorrhages, liver damage, or paralysis of the heart. It is therefore controlled as a food additive by many governments. Like a number of other plants, the tonka bean plant probably produces coumarin as a defense chemical.^{[citation needed]}

Tonka beans have been used as a source of natural coumarin and, after its synthesis in the 1940s, artificial coumarin became one of the first artificial flavoring agents as a vanilla substitute. The Food and Drug Administration in the USA has considered foods containing tonka beans adulterated since 1954 because coumarin has shown toxicity in extremely^[specify] high concentrations. Despite the American ban on its use in foods, the product has been frequently imported into the United States by gastronomic enthusiasts. There have been calls for removing the restrictions on the use of tonka beans in food in the US similar to the successful deregulations of mangosteens and absinthe in the early 21st century. The regulations are criticized as unreasonable due to the unlikelihood of consuming enough coumarin to cause ill effects and due to the presence of coumarin in unregulated foods. Coumarin is also present in lavender, cinnamon, licorice, strawberries, and cherries.

In France, tonka beans are used in cuisine (particularly, in desserts and stews) and in perfumes. The flavor has been described as a complex mix of vanilla, almond, clove, cinnamon, and amaretto. Yves Rocher uses them in their men's perfume Hoggar, for example, and they are still used to flavor some pipe tobaccos, such as Samuel Gawith "1792 Flake."