Vanilla has a long history of use as a food flavoring and fragrance. Spanish explorers first introduced vanilla to Europe in the early 1500s. Although the vanillin constituent is often used in bulk food preparation, it cannot be readily substituted for the natural extract when the delicate fragrance of the pure extractive is desired. Vanilla has traditionally been used as an aphrodisiac, carminative, antipyretic, and stimulant, and in the treatment of fever, spasm, dysmenorrhea, and hysteria. It has been added to foods to reduce the amount of sugar needed for sweetening and is said to curb the development of