Truffle Market Evolution: An Application of the Delphi Method

Background: The objective of this study was to analyze the current situation of the truffle sector in the main producing countries of the Mediterranean area. Additionally, we identified the challenges for the future and the priority actions to develop the truffle sector in the region. Methods: We used a Delphi process approach, and we selected a total of 17 expert panelists in different positions within the supply chain of the target countries (Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, and Greece). Results: The results obtained allowed us to have a complete description of the current truffle supply chain. We confirmed an evolution of the sector due to the cultivation success of several Tuber species. The maturity of the sector has produced shifts in the roles that form the traditional truffle supply chain operators. We confirmed the trend of a decrease of collectors that hunt truffles in the wild and sell to small travelling buyers, whilst truffle hunters that collect for farmers and specialty wholesalers are emerging. However, a trend of truffle price decrease in the last few years has alerted the sector. Conclusions: As production increases due to truffle cultivation, it will be necessary to promote truffle consumption. We identified actions to develop the truffle sector: (a) strengthen the link between truffles, tourism, and gastronomy; (b) increase the effort at European level for the recognition of truffle production, helping to develop truffle culture and marketing; (c) increase the awareness and consumption of truffles among consumers; and (d) develop tourism workshops for truffle farmers.

New Species of Whitish Truffle, Tuber Lithocarpii Sp. Nov., Belonging to the Puberulum Clade, Discovered Under Lithocarpus Konishii in Taiwan

BackgroundDiversity of Tuber species in Taiwan is still poorly known, with only T. formosanum form Melanosporum clade, T. furfuraceum from Rufum clade and T. elevatireticulatum from Puberulum clade were recorded in recent 30 years. During our survey of hypogenous fungi in Taiwan, another whitish truffle was collected from roots of Lithocarpus konishii along a forest road in southern Taiwan in January 2018.ResultsThe whitish truffle is herein described as a new species Tuber lithocarpii, which is appeared to differ from most closely related taxon by its small ascomata size, reddish-brown gleba color, small and globose ascospores size with large pentagonal or irregular marbled reticulated ornamentation. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that T. lithocarpii formed a monophyletic clade within Puberulum clade and placed sister to the Thai whitish truffle T.thailandicum with strong branching support.ConclusionsTuber lithocarpii, which is appeared to differ from the previous recorded species based on morphological and phylogenetic evidences. This is an important and encouraging discovery in Taiwan as to facilitate cognition of Asian truffles, the following development of biotechnological applications and truffle cultivation of native species.

Soil Metabarcoding Offers a New Tool for the Investigation and Hunting of Truffles in Northern Thailand

Truffles (Tuber spp.) are well-known as edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms, and some species are one of the most expensive foods in the world. During the fruiting process, truffles produce hypogeous ascocarps; a trained pig or dog is needed to locate the ascocarps under the ground. Truffles in northern Thailand have been recorded in association with Betulaalnoides and Carpinus poilanei. In this study, we investigated the soil mycobiota diversity of soil samples from both of these truffle host plants in native forests using environmental DNA metabarcoding to target the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region of the rDNA gene for the purposes of investigation of truffle diversity and locating truffles during the non-fruiting phase. In this study, a total of 38 soil samples were collected from different locations. Of these, truffles had been found at three of these locations. Subsequently, a total of 1341 putative taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained. The overall fungal community was dominated by phylum-level sequences assigned to Ascomycota (57.63%), Basidiomycota (37.26%), Blastocladiomycota (0.007%), Chytridiomycota (0.21%), Glomeromycota (0.01%), Kickxellomycota (0.01%), Mortierellomycota (2.08%), Mucoromycota (0.24%), Rozellomycota (0.01%), Zoopagomycota (0.003%), and unidentified (2.54%). The results revealed that six OTUs were determined to be representative and belonged to the genus Tuber. OTU162, OTU187, OTU447, and OTU530 belonged to T. thailandicum, T. lannaense, T. bomiense, and T. magnatum, whereas OTU105 and OTU720 were acknowledged as unrecognized Tuber species. From 38 locations, OTUs of truffles were found in 33 locations (including three previously known truffle locations). Thus, 30 collection sites were considered new locations for T. thailandicum, T. bomiense, and other unrecognized Tuber species. Interestingly, at 16 new locations, mature ascocarps of truffles that were undergoing the fruiting phase were located underground. All 16 truffle samples were identified as T. thailandicum based on morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic analysis. However, ascocarps of other truffle species were not found at the new OTUs representative locations. The knowledge gained from this study can be used to lead researchers to a better understanding of the occurrence of truffles using soil mycobiota diversity investigation. The outcomes of this study will be particularly beneficial with respect to the search and hunt for truffles without the need for trained animals. In addition, the findings of this study will be useful for the management and conservation of truffle habitats in northern Thailand.

PCR primers comparisons for a successful Tuber spp. DNA region amplification in routine identifications / Primerjava PCR začetnih oligonukleotidov za uspešno pomnoževanje DNA regije Tuber spp. pri rutinski identifikaciji

Since late 20th century DNA sequencing became the method of choice method in precision species identification. The ITS region is one of the official fungal barcoding DNA markers, although in some cases sequencing of the ITS region may, due to misidentification, mislabeling or nomenclature errors in public databases, lead to incorrect or insufficient identification, as is currently a case in the genus Tuber. The aim of this study was to test, which ITS primer pairs are most appropriate and optimal for Tuber species DNA region amplification. Thereby we (1) compared amplification success for different Tuber species using fungal specific primer pair ITS1f and ITS4 and (2) compared amplification success using different ITS primer pair combinations in amplifying DNA region an example species Tuber aestivum. Based on results, Tuber aestivum was one of the most reluctant Tuber species in this study and in most cases failed to amplify with the above primer pair. After comparing different ITS primer pairs, we conclude that the primer pair ITS5 and ITS7 is the most appropriate primer pair for amplification DNA region of T. aestivum as it resulted in high amplification success from ectomycorrhizal root tips. Based on sequences, gained from public databases, we found that ITS1f and ITS6 primers have a mismatch in one base pair compared to the target sequence of Tuber aestivum, thus resulting in poor or no amplification success. Although primer pair ITS5 and ITS7 in our study was proven to be the most appropriate primer pair in amplifying DNA region Tuber aestivum species, further analysis about appropriateness of it for a general barcoding and identification of ectomycorrhiza in complex community samples is needed. Keywords: Tuber spp., ITS region, PCR amplification, ITS primers Izvleček Od konca 20. stoletja je določanje nukleotidnega zaporedja DNA postalo ena izmed pogosteje uporabljenih metod za določanje vrst. ITS regija je edna izmed uradnih glivnih DNA markerjev, čeprav lahko določanje nukleotidnega zaporedja le-te, v nekaterih primerih, predvsem zaradi napačne določitve, označevanja oziroma napak v nomenklaturi v javnih bazah podatkov, privede do napačne oziroma nenatančne določitve vrst, kar je trenutno težava pri določitvi vrst iz rodu Tuber. Namen te študije je bil testirati kateri pari ITS začetnih oligonukleotidov so najbolj primerni in optimalni za pomnoževanje DNA regij gliv iz rodu Tuber. S tem namenom smo v študiji (1) primerjali uspešnost pomnoževanja DNA regije različnih vrst iz rodu Tuber, z uporabo glivno specifičnih začetnih oligonukleotidov ITS1f in ITS4 ter hkrati (2) primerjali uspešnost pomnoževanja DNA regije vrste Tuber aestivum z uporabo različnih ITS začetnih oligonukleotidov. Na podlagi rezultatov ugotavljamo, da je vrsta T. aestivum izmed vseh analiziranih gliv iz rodu Tuber, bila najtežavnejša vrsta v naši študiji, saj je v večini primerov pomnoževanje DNA regije te vrste z uporabo glivno specifičnih začetnih oligonukleotidov ITS1f in ITS4 bilo neuspešno. Po primerjavi uspešnosti pomnoževanja z različnimi ITS začetnimi oligonukelotidi ugotavljamo, da sta bila v naši študiji ITS začetna oligonukleotida ITS5 in ITS7 najprimernejša za pomnoževanje DNA regije vrste T. aestivum, saj je bila uspešnost pomnoževanja iz ektomikoriznih vršičkov v tem primeru največja. Na podlagi T. aestivum nukleotidnih zaporedij pridobljenih iz javnih podatkovnih baz ugotavljamo, da je za začetna oligonukleotida ITS1f in ITS6 značilno neujemanje s tarčnim nukleotidnim zaporedjem (T. aestivum) v enem baznem paru, kar se lahko odraža bodisi v slabšem pomnoževalnem uspehu ali v nepomnoževanju na splošno. Kljub temu, da v naši študiji ugotavljamo, da sta začetna oligonukleotida ITS5 in ITS7 najprimernejša za pomnoževanje DNA regije glive T. aestivum, so potrebne nadaljnje analize, s katerimi bi potrdili splošno primernost omenjenega para ITS5/ITS7 za pomnoževanje DNA regije ne samo vrst iz rodu Tuber, temveč za določanje ektomikoriznih glivnih združb na splošno. Ključne besede: Tuber spp., ITS regija, PCR pomno­ževanje, ITS začetni oligonukleotidi

Effect Carrageenan to Biodegradable Plastic From Tubers

Plastic waste can cause serious environmental problems. This can be overcome by various efforts; one of them is by replacing the use of conventional plastic with biodegradable plastic. Biodegradable plastic can be produced from tubers containing starch. The purpose of this study was to explain the suitability of two tuber species with typical protein quality and different starch structures. Starch was obtained from suweg tuber (Amorphophallus campanulatus) and ganyong (Canna edulis Ker). The material invested was obtained by dissolving 4 grams of each starch, each of which was dissolved with distilled water then added with various weight carrageenan. The tensile strength of biodegradable plastic was tested using tensile testing machines, biodegradation of soaked plastics using EM4 (Effective Microorganism) with reduced weight measurements, and Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) was used to identify the structure of compounds contained in biodegradable plastics. The tensile strength test results of biodegradable plastic from ganyong/canna tubers were 3.35 MPa with elongation of 13.51%, while the plastic from suweg tubers of 2.45 MPa with elongation was 13.68% on the addition of 5% carrageenan, respectively. Plastic degradation testing obtained plastic decomposition up to 100% in 37 days for ganyong and 34 days for suweg, respectively. It showed that the plastics was easily degraded. Identified by FTIR showed chemical structures of OH phenolic alcohols, C = O carbonyls, CO esters, NH amides and amines, and C≡C alkyne.

Ethnobotany of suweg (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius): Folk classification, habitat, and traditional conservation in Cisoka Village, Majalengka District, Cimanuk Watershed Region, Indonesia

Mutaqin AZ, Kurniadie D, Iskandar J, Nurzaman M, Partasasmita R. 2020. Ethnobotany of suweg (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius): Folk classification, habitat, and traditional conservation in Cisoka Village, Majalengka District, Cimanuk Watershed Region, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 546-555. Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson or suweg is commonly called in Sunadese of West Java as suweg that is a species of tuber growing in many regions of the world, including in the Cimanuk Watershed, West Java Province, Indonesia. A. paeoniifolius usually grows in rural areas of West Java in some agroecosystem types, including the homegarden, garden, and mixed garden system. This plant species, in contrast to other tuber species, such as taro, has not been intensively cultivated by rural community in West Java. Even though A. paeoniifolius has not been intensively cultivated, this plant species in the future have the potential to be used for various purposes for human being. Because A. paeoniifolius, one of plant tubers, has a high resistance to unpredictable environmental changes, such as climate change, pest disruption, and easy to maintain. This study aimed to elucidate the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of rural people of Cisoka Village, Cikijing Sub-district, Majalengka District of Cimanuk Watershed, West Java on folk classification, habitat, and traditional conservation of A. paeoniifolius. The method used in this study was qualitative. Field data collection was undertaken by observation and semi-structured interviews or deep interviews with competent informants. The results of study showed that the rural population of Cisoka Village, Majalengka District, has recognized two kinds of Amorphophallus. Firstly, Amorphophallus is a commonly consumed that is called suweg which has scientific name as Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson. Secondly, Amorphophallus is recognized as not commonly consumed which is called 'iles-iles' (Amorphophallus variabilis Blume). Both species can be traditionally classified based on morphology (tubers, leaf blade and petioles, and flowers), habitat, utilization, cultivation, and suitability of growing places. Specifically, A. paeoniifolius, grows in various conditions, growing at non-cultivated lands, such as forests and cultivated land, such as homegarden, garden, mixed-garden, and rice fields, or pond edges, but predominantly grows in homegardens and gardens. Some of these lands are hieum or shaded areas and negrak or open areas. A. paeoniifolius starts to grow and develop at the beginning of the rainy season until approaching the dry season, which is characterized by yellowing and falling of petiole. Conservation of A. paeoniifolius has been based on tradition is carried out by the rural community through storage/ preparation of seeds, which does not destroy A. paeoniifolius that grows in several types of agroecosystems, and is managed semi-intensively in several types of agroecosystems such as homegardens and gardens.