全 文 ：Wild Finnish Truffles
Shamekh S.
1 , 2
, Donnini D.
3
, Zambonelli A .
4
, Leisola M .
1
(1 Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki , Finland; 2 J uva Truffle Center, Juva, Finland;
3 University of Perugia, Umbria, Italy; 4 University of Bologna, Italy)
Abstract: Truffleascocarpswere collected froma natural forest located in Lahti, Finland (100 km north to Helsinki ) by
the help of atrained truffle dog called Siro in Autuman2006 . By morphological identification, thetruffleswere identified as
Tuber maculatumand Tuber scruposum . Thetruffleascocarpswerefound in soil with relatively high pH value in coniferous
forest . Our studies showed that both tuber species prefer themixedforest with host-trees such as spruceand pine . Samples
of thetrufflefruit bodies areconserved in thecollection of biological materials in the JuvaTruffleCenter . Further investiga-
tion concerningtruffle species (DNA) and soil properties will be performed in the coming seasons .
Key words: Truffles; Forest; Tuber; Ascocarps; pH
CLC number : Q 938 Document Code : A Article ID : 0253 - 2700 (2009 ) Suppl .ⅩⅥ - 069 - 03
Introduction
Truffles in strict definition are hypogeous fungi of
the genus Tuber which grow in symbiosis with certain
trees . More than 20 tuber speciesgrow in the temperate
and Mediterranean forests of Europe, where truffles
have been collected for centuries . Annual world truffle
production during the last 100 years has dropped from
1000 to 200 tons ( Olivier, 2000 ) . Several species of
thegenus tuber have high ecological and economic im-
portance . Ascomata of few species of truffles such as
Tuber magnatum and Tuber melanosporum are well
known world-wide through their gastronomic value .
Compared with those in Mediterranean region, truffles
in Fenno-Scandinavia are less documented . Fries
(1909) gave the first modern account of Tuber species in
Scandinavia, listing three species, T. aestivum, T. ma-
culatumand T. rufum .Upto now, Denmark has themost
records in this region, with 6 white and 3 black truffles
(Lange, 1956) . In Sweden the number of tuber species
known is five, including two black truffles, T. aestivum
and T. mesentericum(Danell , 1996; Wedén et al. , 1998;
Wedén et al. , 2001) . NowBurgundy truffle ( T. aestivum
syn . uncinatum) has been produced in small commercial
scale in Gotland (Wedén et al. , 2009) . Truffles do not
belong to the traditional Finnish kitchen nor are they a
common topic in the media . Tuber borchii is the only
truffle species with commercial value found naturally in
Finland so far in Mushroom journal by Kosonen et al .
(2002) . Tuber borchii is theonly trufflespecies withgas-
tronomic valuefound in Finlandup to now .Differentiation
of several white truffles on their morphological features is
difficult especially for T. maculatumand T. borchii . Vit-
tadini (1831) differentiated these tubers mainly by their
smell , taste and microscopic characters . Its important to
differentiate these two truffles for economic and regulatory
reasons because T. borchii is allowed on Italian market
andused in food products whereas T. maculatum is not .
Mello et al . (2000) reported that T. borchii morphologi-
cal character closely resembles T. maculatum . The aim
was to identify the trufflespecies grownwildly in Finnish
forest and investigate their soil habitat characteristic and
forest vegetation .
Materials and Methods
Truffles
Couple of wild truffles was found in the Finnish
forest located in Lahti (100 km north of Helsinki ) by
using a trained dog ( Ciro) . For the purpose of the
study, a representative number of unidentified hypo-
geous specimens presumably a genus of white truffles
were collected and washed free of adhering soil and
were kept in alcohol until themicroscopy analysis . The
samples were deposited in Herbarium of Juva Truffle
Centre ( ascocarps) and in parallel in the Herbarium
and Mycotheca at the Helsinki University of Technolo-
gy, Finland . Specimens with fully developed ascomata
云 南 植 物 研 究 2009 , Suppl . ⅩⅥ : 69～71
Acta Botanica Yunnanica
and sporeswereused for theexaminationof microscopic
morphological characteristics . All truffle ascoscarps
were identifiedon the basis of their shape, appearance
and also on their microscopic features .
Soil and host plants
Soil sample was taken from the forest area where
truffles were found . The surface litters and vegetation
of the trufflehabitat areawas removed and then about 1
kilogramof the soil was collected for investigation . The
water pH of the soil sample was determined . The
ground vegetation of the forest area and the dominant
trees growing in the trufflesgrowing area was recorded .
All potential truffle host plants fromthe vicinity of col-
lected sporocarps were recorded .
Results
The fresh collected truffles were characterized ac-
cording to Castellano et al . ( 1989 ) and Trappe and
Castellano ( 2000 ) . The wild Finnish truffles identified
in this study were found in the forest with high pH
(6 . 6 ) compared to the pH of Finnish forest which
range from4 - 4 .5 . Our studies showed that the spruce
( Picea abies) were the dominant trees growing in the
vicinity of the truffles with few pine trees . Five repre-
sentative fresh or alcohol-stored ascocarps were exam-
ined for spore characteristics . Tuber species were first
identified in theLaboratory of Bioprocess Engineering,
Helsinki University of Technology, Finland and the
further confirmation was performed in the University of
Perugia and University of Bologna . The tubers were
identified as Tuber scruposum ( recorded for the first
time in Finland) and Tuber maculatum, ( Figs1 , 2 re-
spectively) . T. puberulum, T. borchii and Tuber mac-
ulatum have been reported from many countries
( Trappe and Castellano, 2000; Riousset et al. , 2001;
Ceruti et al. , 2003 ) . A trained dog is an important
tool in searching truffles . Further investigation con-
cerning truffle species (DNA ) and soil properties will
be performed in the coming seasons .
Discussion
Our studies showed that the spruce trees ( Picea
abies) were the dominant trees growing close to the
truffle habitats forest with few pine trees . Both Finnish
truffle species identified in this study were picked out
fromthe forest with a water pH of 6 .6 which is higher
than the typical Finish forest pH ( 4 . 3 - 4 .5 ) . This
high pH value indicated that this forest was a former
field . In Gotland, Sweden, T. aestivumgrows wild in
association with Quercus robur L . ( pedunculate oak)
and Corylus avellana (European hazel ) in soil with pH
values ranging from6 .8 to 7 .8 ( Weden et al. , 2004)
whereas Polish T. aestivumgrows wildly also in the vi-
cinity of Fagus sylvatica and Tilia cordata trees
( Hilszczanska and Sierota, 2008 ) . Based on their
morphological characters the collected truffles were
identified as T. maculatumand T. scruposum . The re-
sults underlinetheneed to support morphological studies
with molecular identification techniques to ensure correct
identification of tuber species . Our study provides an
Fig. 1 Tuber scruposum Fig. 2 Tuber maculatum
07 云 南 植 物 研 究 增刊ⅩⅥ
improved basis for futuremonographsof thegenus tuber
especially wild white Finnish truffles . We are develop-
ing an applicable protocol to detect the truffle mycelia
in the soil where truffles grow naturally . Due to the
lack of historical Finnish recordsof truffles and the tra-
dition of collecting and consuming truffles in Finland,
it is very difficult to determine if and for how long the
sites of wild white Finnish truffles have existed .
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17增刊ⅩⅥ Shamekh S. et al. : Wild Finnish Truffles