A fragrant white crystalline compound found in many plants that smells sweet like vanilla and is used in perfumes, flavorings, and medicines.
Borrowed from French coumarine, ultimately from cumaru, a Tupi word for the tonka bean tree native to South America. European scientists isolated and named the compound in the early 1800s.
Coumarin was once so popular in vanilla-flavored products that some countries banned it because in huge amounts it can harm your liver—vanilla extract producers had to switch to real vanilla instead!
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