Truffles

     Truffles are a variety of ascomycete mushroom of the Tuber family, which grows mostly in soil rich with limestone. It is the result of an association between the roots of a tree and the mycelium of a mushroom. This will produce mycorhizes which will themselves perpetuate the mycelium from which the truffle will grow.

This symbiotic or parasite association remains delicate and uncertain despite research on the subject. It can only be mastered by people driven by passion and whose main concern is not cost effectiveness.


Spores of tuber melanosporum
 
   
Respect for the truffle's ecosystem

In a sens, a truflle is a bag containing thousands of spores; these can be used to produce mycorhized trees under control of the "Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique" (INRA, a French public funded research body in the fiels of agriculture and food) or of the interprofessionnal Center for Fruit and Vegetable (Ctifl, a French body).

After carefull selection of a site on limestone rich and filtering soil, the new truffle grower will be able to plant two or three years old mycorhized trees. Whether he will obtain any results will depend directly on absolute respect of the truffle's ecosystem.