Abstract: In order to analyze the accumulation of volatile components in vanilla beans during the curing process,volatile compounds in vanilla beans were extracted using organic solvents and quantitated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS)with DB-5 and DB-Wax capillary column. The results indicated that 45 volatiles were detected with DB-5 for separation,and 19,17,25,33,37 components were identified in fresh vanilla bean(FVB),blanched vanilla beans(BVB),sweated vanilla beans(SVB),dried vanilla beans(DVB)and cured vanilla bean(CVB),respectively. Using DB-Wax for separation 20,21,27,38,46 volatile components were detected of vanilla beans at different curing stages. A total of 69 volatile compounds were detected in vanilla beans. Among them,acetic acid,guaiacol,vanillyl alcohol,n-hexadecanoic acids were with high content and increased during curing.(E)-2-decenal,octadecanoic acid methyl ester,behenic alcohol only appeared in earlier stages. Hexanedioic acid bis(2-ethylhexyl)ester and octyl acetate decreased during curing. The aroma of cured vanilla beans was formed by the mixing of metabolites of various precursors.