Soil factors that influence the fruiting of Tuber melanosporum (black truffle)
L. G. García-Montero A C , M. A. Casermeiro B , J. Hernando B and I. Hernando BA Dept of Forestry Engineering, E.T.S.I. Montes, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, E-28040 Spain.
B Dept of Soil Science, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Farmacia, Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid E-28040, Spain.
C Corresponding author. Email: luisgonzaga.garcia@upm.es
Australian Journal of Soil Research 44(8) 731-738 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR06046
Submitted: 13 April 2006 Accepted: 3 October 2006 Published: 29 November 2006
Abstract
Although soil is one of the factors in the biology of Tuber melanosporum (black truffle of Périgord), which has been the subject of much study, there are few quantitative analyses relating to its effects on carpophore production. The aim of this work is to establish the statistical relationship between T. melanosporum productivity in 20 soil surface horizons and their conventional soil properties (granulometric texture, pH, calcareous fractions, organic carbon, total nitrogen, exchangeable cations). The study area is situated in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula under a Mediterranean climate. Statistical analysis shows that the collective influence of these conventional soil features is low, as principal component analysis explains only 27% of the variance in T. melanosporum production. However, a high percentage of active limestone (calcium carbonate extractable with ammonium oxalate) accounts for 40% of the variance in T. melanosporum production. Active limestone is very important to T. melanosporum because it regulates soil pH and exchangeable Ca2+ availability and participates in the organisation and maintenance of the soil structure; it also plays a role in the truffle’s nutrition. These results obtained for active limestone may be of use in truffle cultivation.
Additional keywords: Tuber melanosporum, truffle soil, truffle production, active limestone, truffle culture.
Acknowledgments
The research in this article forms part of an agreement signed between the I.T.D.A. and the Instituto Madrileño de Investigaciones Agrarias (I.M.I.A.) entitled ‘Estudio ecológico y edáfico preliminar de hábitats ibéricos de la trufa negra en relación con el cultivo del I.T.D.A.’ and the Project FP-01-41 of I.M.I.A. research project, granted in 2001. We thank Domingo and J. Díaz for their teachings, and Margarita, Luis, J. L. Manjón, P. Díaz, I. Valverde, S. Martín-Fernández, and Valentina Urbano for their support and collaboration. The authors wish especially to thank Domingo hijo, Domingo padre, Toño, Emilio, Justo, Abel, Pepe, Jose María, Gonzalo, and the other truffle collectors, and all the people and Council of Peralejos de las Truchas for their invaluable contribution to this study. We also thank the Alto Tajo Nature Reserve Institution. In the IV International Workshop on Edible Mycorrhizal Mushrooms (University of Murcia. Nov. 2005) we presented a partial communication entitled: Influence of active limestone and soil features on Tuber melanosporum productivity.
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