Truffle Cultivation
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Well defined brules beneath five year old oak trees supplied by New World Truffieres. Photo by Dr. Ian Hall on the day the first truffles were found. |
Truffles
are among the world’s preeminent culinary delicacies. Revered
for millennia, only their price has kept pace with their fame. Retail
prices in the U.S. for Tuber melanosporum, the French black
truffle or Perigord truffle, and Tuber magnatum, the Italian
white truffle, have reached $1000 and $3000 per pound. Most truffles
are harvested in the wild and since the wild supply is diminishing,
prices continue to climb.
Truffles are a form of mushroom that develops underground in symbiotic
association with the roots of trees. The breakthrough that made their
cultivation possible was development of technology to inoculate host
trees with the fungus under controlled conditions. The use of inoculated
trees to cultivate Tuber melanosporum and other truffles has
proven successful over the past 20 years in Europe and many farms, including
two in the United States are now producing French black truffles in
other parts of the world.
To cultivate truffles, inoculated truffle trees are planted in orchards
much like those for fruits and nuts, except that the crop appears below
ground and is usually harvested with the help of trained dogs or pigs
that can smell the truffles through a layer of earth. Truffles begin
to appear several years after the inoculated seedlings are planted and
production can continue for decades. The onset and duration of production
depends to some extent on the species of host tree. Yields vary dramatically:
some farms produce as much as 150 pounds per acre each year while others
produce little. Typical yields in Europe range between 25 and 35 pounds
per acre each year, but as methods improve many more farms are achieving
yields in excess of 100 pounds per acre.
New World Truffieres produces truffle tree seedlings (oaks, hazelnuts and other species)
inoculated with Tuber melanosporum and other truffle species in North
America. These seedlings are checked individually to confirm the presence
of the fungus and we provide a quality guarantee that the trees are
viable, abundantly colonized by the truffle ectomycorrhizae and completely
free of competitor species. We are also engaged in an active research
program testing new hosts, more truffle species and various cultivation
practices for farming truffles in our soils and climates.
Please contact us for more information about
truffle farming, to purchase inoculated seedlings or to obtain fresh
or frozen truffles. We also welcome contact from existing truffle farmers
around the world.