Site characteristics of Tuber magnatum in Greece

Vasilios Christopoulos, Polyxeni Psoma, Stephanos Diamandis

Abstract


Day after day it is being demonstrated that Greece hides a buried treasure in its forests. The wild black truffles Tuber aestivum, T. uncinatum, T. brumale and T. melanosporum and the white truffle T. borchii and recently T. magnatum are picked in a variety of forest ecosystems all over the country. The information which has been collected has initiated a national programme on truffle cultivation which, so far, has immense appeal, especially among young farmers. The discovery of carpophores of T. magnatum, the most valued white truffle in the market, triggered the interest in studying the site characteristics, botanical and pedological, in order to help farmers to cultivate the species in similar sites. All carpophores were found under hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis) along the banks of a creek on alluvial sediment. Soil analyses of four soil samples from truffle nests showed a narrow range of values of pH in water (7.57–7.78) and 1N KCL (6.94–7.07) and a similar granulometric soil texture.

Keywords


white truffle; soil analyses; ecology and distribution; truficulture

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5586/am.2013.004

Journal ISSN:
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  • 0001-625X (print; ceased since 2015)
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Polish Botanical Society