全 文 ：Towards Producing Périgord Black Truffles ( Tuber melanosporum)
in Southern British Columbia, Canada
Berch S. M . , Gamiet S. ? , HaddowW. , Wyne Q. , Lestock-Kay D.
( TruffleAssociation of British Columbia, c?o Ministry of Agriculture, Access Centre
5785 Duncan St ., Duncan BC , V9L 5G2 , Canada)
Abstract: Cultivating European truffles in southern British Columbia, Canada is being investigated . Research sites are lo-
cated on 3 privateorchards, and 1 site at the Vancouver campusof the University of BritishColumbia (UBC) . Sites on the
private orchards have been limed and planted using hazelnuts ( Corylus avellana) and English oaks ( Quercus robur) as
hosts and Tuber melanosporum and T. aestivumas their fungal partner . Thesetrees havebeen in thefield for 1 - 3 growing
season . The site at UBC is currently being limed in preparation for a spring 2009 planting . All sites were acidic and
required large amounts of lime to adjust the soil pH . This project reports on thecurrent status on this project .
Key words: Canada; Black truffles; Cultivation
CLC number : Q 646 Document Code : A Article ID : 0253 - 2700 (2009 ) Suppl .ⅩⅥ - 037 - 02
Introduction
With the decline of the European harvest of the
Perigord black truffles (Hall et al. , 2003) , there has
been a corresponding increase in their cultivation in
non traditional areas of the world ( Hall et al. ,
2007) . The Périgord andBurgundy truffle industries in
Australia and New Zealand are now firmly established,
indicating that they can be cultivated in non traditional
areas if inoculated trees are grown in suitable soil and
climatic conditions . In these areas, soils are predomi-
nantly acidic, so additions of lime were necessary to
successfully produce healthy truffle-colonized trees and
their fungi . Many parts of southern British Columbia
(BC) , Canada, share similar soil and climatic condi-
tions to the truffle producing areas of New Zealand,
Australia and Europe ( Table 1 ) . It is therefore possi-
ble that with soil amendments, Périgord and Burgundy
truffles may be successfully cultivated in BC . The aim
of this research project is to determine if soils and cli-
matic conditions in BC can support a viable Périgord
and Burgundy truffle commercial industry . This paper
reports the progress of this research and includes future
work to be done .
Materials and Methods
Location of Research Sites
Research sites have been established on 3 private
orchards in, Abbotsford, Duncan, Oyama, and on 2
public locations, the campus of the University of Brit-
ish Columbia ( UBC ) , Vancouver and on community
gardens, Glendale Gardens and Woodland ( GGW ) ,
Victoria . All sites had previously grown agricultural or
horticultural crops for many years, so therisk of ectomy-
corrhizal contamination on inoculated seedlings is min-
imal . All siteswere locatedon acidic soils that required
lime application to adjust the pH to 7 .8 - 8 .0 .
Soils and Liming
Soil samples were collected at various locations on
each research site, dried and a composite sample was
sent to theMinistry of Forests, for macro andmicro nu-
trients andpH analysis . Results showed that the soil pH
on all sites were below 7 .0 and would lime to increase
the pH . Calcium carbonate was applied by the grower
multiple times and the results are shown in Table 2 .
Seedlings
Oneyearold inoculated Hazelnut ( Corylusavella-
na) and English oaks ( Quercus robur) seedlings were
obtained from nurseries in BC and Oregon, USA . In
Abbotsford, 5 C. avellana with T. melanosporum; 5
云 南 植 物 研 究 2009 , Suppl . ⅩⅥ : 37～38
Acta Botanica Yunnanica
? ?Author for correspondence; E-mail : sgamiet@ shaw. ca
Table 1 Conditions for Cultivating Périgord Black ( Tuber melanosporum) Truffles ( adapted from Hall et al. , 2007)
Annual
rainfall
( mm)
Degree
days
( > 10 ?C)
Mean daily
temperature
( July)
Mean daily
temperature
( Jan)
Annual
sunshine
hours ( bright
sunshine)
Summer
sunshine
hours
( Jun-Aug)
Tuber melanosporum average 848 ?1475 20 .6 5 .2 2190 M1392 b
Tuber aestivum average 756 ?1179 20 4 1914 M1289 b
South Coastal British Columbia 883 ?ab 761b 16 .4b 3 .8b 2086 Kb 1533 `b
a Annual precipitation ( rain and snow)
b Environment Canada, Canadian Climate Normals, 1971 - 2000 , Environment Canada 2006 , Victoria International Airport
Table 2 Soil Type and pH Adjustments After Lime Application
Site location Soil type Initial soil pH
Soil pH at
planting time
Lime additions
Amount
( tones?hectare)
Number of
applications
Abbotsford Sandy loam 7 ;. 3 ( average of 20 pots) 7 ?. 3 (averageof 20 pots) 24 Itons per acre 3
Duncan Gravel 7 ?. 3 6 N. 76 34 Itons per acre 3
Oyama Sandy loam 6 ?. 5 7 `. 3 14 tonnes?ha 2
UBC Sandy loam 5 ?. 8 NA NA NA
C. avellana with T. aestivum; 5 Q. robur with T. mela-
nosporum and 5 Q. robur with T. aestivum for a total of
20 treeswere eachplanted in apot containing500 litresof
soil; in Duncan, BC, 20 C. avellana trees inoculated
with T. melanosporum, were planted 5 metres apart on
0.02 hectare; and in Oyama, 30 C. avellanawith T. me-
lanosporum, 30 C. avellanawith T. aestivumand 30 Q. -
robur with T. melanosporumwereplantedon 0.33 hectares
5 metres apart . Site at UBC has not yet been planted be-
cause the soil pH had not yet reached 7.8 .
Mycorrhizal Assessment
All seedlings were assessed morphologically for
the target Tuber species prior to planting . All seedlings
that were transplanted into the orchard had a minimum
75% colonization of T. melanosporumor T . aestivum .
Seedlings were not assessed for other ectomycorrhizal
fungi . Seedlings were planted in the spring of 2008 ,
and in the fall of 2008 are being assessed for Tuber
species . All orchardswill be assessed in the autumnon
a regular basis morphologically and molecularly for the
incidenceof Tuber melanosporumor T. aestivum . The
incidence of additional ectomycorrhizal fungi will be
noted . The first assessment of roots from all sites will
be done in October 2008 .
Results and Discussion
Currently, activities at the UBC are focused on
adjusting the soil pH to the recommended 7 .8 levels in
preparation for planting inoculated seedlings . Soil titra-
tions indicated that soils at the UBC location would
need 12 - 24 tons of CaCO3 per acre to raise the pH to
7 .8 . However, after adding the recommended rate, the
pH had not yet reached 7 .8 , so additional lime appli-
cations were necessary . Currently, soils are being ana-
lyzed, once the pH reaches 7 .8 , inoculated seedlings
will be transplanted into the site . At the remaining lo-
cations, inoculated seedlings were transplanted into the
field and pots .
Future Work
The soil pH on all siteswill bemonitored regular-
ly and lime will be continually applied if necessary to
ensure that the pH remains close to 7 .8 . Mycorrhizas
will beassessedmorphologically andmolecularlyat reg-
ular intervals throughout this project .
Acknowledgements : This project has been made possible be-
cause of funding received from the AgroForestry Group of British
Columbia . We gratefully acknowledgetheir support .
References:
Hall ?IR , Yun W, Amicucci A , 2003 . Cultivation of Edible Ectomycor-
rhizal Mushrooms [ J ] . Trends in Biotechnology, 21 : 433—438
Hall ?IR , BrownGT , Zambonelli A , 2007 . Taming theTruffle: the Histo-
ry, Lore and Scienceof theUltimate Mushroom . Timber Press, 304
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