Pecan Truffles; cultivating a new commodity T. Brenneman, M. E. - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Pecan Truffles; cultivating a new commodity T. Brenneman, M. E. - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Dec 21, 2023 550 likes •834 views

Pecan Truffles; cultivating a new commodity T. Brenneman, M. E. Smith, G. Bonito, and R. Vilgalys What are truffles? (No, they are not made of chocolate!) Below-ground reproductive structures formed by about 200 species of ascomycete fungi

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Pecan Truffles; cultivating a new commodity

  • T. Brenneman, M. E. Smith, G. Bonito,

and R. Vilgalys

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What are truffles? (No, they are not made of chocolate!)

  • Below-ground reproductive structures formed

by about 200 species of ascomycete fungi to produce and disperse spores (There are at least 1000 species of hypogeous fungi)

  • Spores not discharged; odor attracts animals

(mice, voles, etc.) which eat the truffles and disperse spores in droppings

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Truffles (Tuberales)

  • Gathered for food since far back into

antiquity; an anonymous author in 1600 B.C. refers to them “not as a mushroom but as mysterious products of the earth”

  • T. melanosporum (Perigord black truffle)

and T. magnatum (Italian white truffle) are among the most sought after culinary delicacies in the world

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The Most Expensive Foods You Can Buy (MSN - January, 2013)

“Available from September to December, white truffles are a gourmet indulgence that'll cost you — around $200 an ounce, which amounts to about 2

  • pieces. These special mushrooms, which can only be

located by trained pigs or dogs, are found in the Piedmont region of Italy and are becoming increasingly rare every year.”

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Puffballs are not truffles!

Homogenous gleba Sterile Base

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Mycorrhizae

(Gr. Mykes = Mushroom + rhiza = root)

  • A symbiotic association between the hyphae
  • f certain fungi and the roots of plants.
  • Truffles are ectomycorrhizae, forming a

mantle of growth over the root tips (vs endomycorrhizae within the roots)

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Ectomycorrhizae

  • hyphae grow intercellularly with a mantle of

growth over the root tips.

  • Root hairs do not develop and the roots are often

short and branched

  • Widespread in nature on many woody plants such

as oaks, beech, willow and pines

  • Most are Basidiomycetes (usually in order

Agaricales), but some are Ascomycetes (ex. Truffles)

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Mutual Benefits of Ectomycorrhizae

Plant benefits from;

  • 1. improved nutrient uptake
  • 2. roots protected from pathogens
  • 3. plant growth hormones from fungus

Fungus obtains carbohydrates from plant

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Pecan mycorrhizae

  • Early researchers (Woodruff, 1933)

described 7 different ectomycorrhizae

  • Nearly all small roots are mycorrhizal
  • Cultivation and drought can destroy them

but they quickly reform

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Pecan root with mycorrhizae

Mycorrhizae

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Pecan Truffle (Tuber lyonii)

  • Discovered in Austin,

Texas under a pecan tree (Heimsch, 1958)

  • Found in Georgia in 1987

at Sunnyland farms, and since in many orchards.

  • Same species reported on
  • ther hosts, but taxonomy

is “in flux”!

Bonito, Brenneman & Vilgalys, 2011

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Rank Abundance of Ectomycorrhizal Taxa on Pecans

(Bonito, Brenneman & Vilgalys, 2011)

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Pecan Truffles are Edible, and sell for up to $400/lb

(Photo by Rebecca Fyffe)

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Several Georgia Restaurants Feature Pecan Truffles When Available

  • Red mule grits custard with shaved pecan truffles

and lobster

  • Local squash and sage agnolotti with truffled leek

crema, sweet leeks and shaved pecan truffles

  • Robiolina with Georgia honey and honeycomb,

toasted pecans and shaved pecan truffles

  • Creamy rice with bacon, collards and pecan

truffles

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Demand is Great – Why is the Current Supply so Limited?

  • 1. Cultivating them is not easy
  • 2. Truffles grow underground so they are

hard to find

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Sometimes it is easy!

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Sometimes it is hard!

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Truffles are more fun (and safer) to find than bombs !

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Want purchase a truffle dog?

Mike Osteen Wynfield Plantation Albany, GA 910-280-0076

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Truffle dogs increase the quantity and quality of truffles found

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Demand is Great – Why is the Current Supply so Limited?

  • 1. Cultivating them is not easy
  • 2. Truffles grow underground so they are

hard to find

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Field Inoculation of Old Trees

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Inoculation at Planting

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Tuber lyonii fruiting fall, 2012

(Trees inoculated January, 2001)

Scale-up for nursery production?

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More Information

  • www.pecantruffles.com serving as a

clearinghouse for pecan truffle information

  • North American Truffle Society at

www.natruffling.org has excellent information

  • n truffles in general
  • Truffle dog in Georgia pecan orchard on Youtube

http://youtu.be/h514cjmJD84

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Pecan truffles – A fungus with a future!

Photos by Rebecca Fyffe