Black truffle cultivation: a global reality

Abstract

Aim of study: In recent decades the cultivation of the black truffle Tuber melanosporum has expanded across all the Mediterranean-climate regions, but also to other regions outside the European standard for the species. We aim to describe the current extent of T. melanosporum cultivation.Area of study: Tuber melanosporum plantations in Europe, the Mediterranean basin, Australia, New Zealand, China, America and South Africa.Material and Methods: The socioeconomic impact of T. melanosporum cultivation, the way in which the current situation has been achieved and the knowledge needed for its progress are reviewed.Research highlights: T. melanosporum has been successfully cultivated in several countries outside its natural area, but many practices are still empirical and thus yields cannot be guaranteed. The recent advances in molecular techniques and genome science are helping to overcome some of the difficulties traditionally constraining truffle research. The role of truffles as a transitional element between agricultural and forestry activities makes its cultivation a paradigm of sustainable rural development.Keywords: Tuber melanosporum; Europe; Australia; New Zealand; Chile; USA.

Fertilisation of Quercus seedlings inoculated with Tuber melanosporum: effects on growth and mycorrhization of two host species and two inoculation methods

“…is an ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungus extensively cultivated due to its gastronomic value and decline of wild production (Reyna & Garcia-Barreda 2014). Each year, more than 2,000 ha of agricultural lands are afforested in southern Europe (mainly France, Italy and Spain) by entrepreneurs to produce black truffle, most of them with native Quercus as host plants (Reyna & Garcia-Barreda 2014). Modern truffle cultivation is based on planting nursery-inoculated seedlings on suitable lands, with appropriate edaphoclimatic environment for the fungus to complete its life cycle and with low EM inoculum potential (Sourzat 2008).…”

Plant, Soil and Microbes

“…It is not possible to cultivate successfully all the species in truffl e beds (Iotti et al 2012 ;Reyna and Garcia-Barreda 2014 ). Aside from the importance of site suitability and seedling quality, one critical factor in the precocity and regularity of truffl e production has proven to be correct management of the truffl e beds.…”

“…Black truffl e ( T. melanosporum ), the black summer truffl e ( T. aestivum ) and white truffl e ( T. magnatum ) are edible in nature and are consumed throughout the world (Otsing and Tedersoo 2015 ). However, there are some other economically important truffl e species such as pecan truffl es ( T. lyonii ) found in North America and Chinese truffl es ( T. indicum and T. sinoaestivum ) found in Asia (Bonito et al 2012 ;Reyna and Garcia-Barreda 2014 ).…”

Black truffle winter production depends on Mediterranean summer precipitation

“…The total asset, in France alone, has been estimated at ∼67 million Euro yr −1 . With an increasing trend, cultivated fruitbodies already account for up to 80% of all commercially traded truffles (Murat 2015, Reyna andGarcia-Barreda 2014). Due to the hidden belowground lifecycle of this iconic culinary species (Trappe and Claridge 2010), and its complex host interaction (Büntgen et al 2015), as well as potential direct and indirect climatic (e.g.…”