• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2006

Certain European truffles including Tuber melanosporum (Perigord black truffle) and T. aestivum(Burgundy truffle), are valuable food commodities, selling for hundreds of dollars per kilogram worldwide. These underground(hypogeous) mushrooms may become profitable agroforestry crops in the south-central United States. Native to Europe, T. melanosporum and T. aestivum are being cultivated to a limited extent and with mixed results in New Zealand and the United States. Tuber species grow mutualistically as ectomycorrhizae with the roots of compatible host trees including white and evergreen oaks(Quercus spp.) and hazels(Corylus spp.). Tuber melanosporum and T. aestivum have environmental requirements compatible with conductive sites in the south central US. Climatic and edaphic conditions for cultivating T. melanosporum are more constraining, but T. melanosporum also commands a much higher price.