News

It sounds like the media are about to have a look at our industry and the possibility of us having Tuber Brumale in Australian plantations. The short answer is yes we do have it in early plantations across Australia! Is this a good thing? No I don’t believe it is ideal, but it was almost inevitable, given the sources and scrutiny of inoculum that were introduced to Australia in the early days, or lack of it! Tuber Brumale is a look alike for Tuber melanosporum except for the fact that it peels easily under the thumb and the white veins inside are distinctly wider apart than Tuber melanosporum as the picture below will demonstrate for you. It also has a very distinct chemical aroma much different from Tuber melanosporum and easily identified. Brumale is edible and saleable, so it is not the end of the world and the industry must recognise it is here and live with it in the marketplace as do our European colleagues. My fear is that there will be growers who have it and will try to market it to restaurants as Tuber melanosporum unknowingly, so if you are producing truffles please just a little knick off each truffle to check the veins and for maturity then the thumb test to see if it peels easily as a rough way to check each fruiting body before you sell it.

Tuber brumale (notice skin peeling)

Tuber melanosporum

As for new growers buying trees, it has been suggested by Scientists that each tree be certified as free from contamination before selling it and I am afraid that the cost of doing this on a commercial scale will make it commercially unviable for anyone to do that or buy the trees after that process. What I can inform you is of Truffles Australis methods of inoculation have been developed firstly by a recognised French Mycologist and nursery, then refined more with the help of the CSIRO, Department of Agriculture and Serve-Ag Research and whilst we are unable to guarantee that our trees do not have contaminants on them, we can guarantee that we have made all best endeavours to prevent any outside infections. Mother seed was imported from France and DNA checked by Murdoch University under the guidance of Dr Nick Malajczuk. Due to the current scare about Brumale we are currently working with Murdoch University on a standard protocol to be implemented by all nurseries hopefully and also an economical method of DNA identification for truffles that are to be used in nursery production. We aim to have that completed by the AGM of the Australian Trufflegrowers Association in August.

To give you some perspective on how easy it would be in theory to get an infection all it would require is one spore of Brumale to be stuck on the outside of a black truffle that was being used for spore material in a crevice where it could not be washed off and bingo you have an infection on the next generation in theory.

Not really news more just some questions that you should ask before emabarking on a truffle growing journey!

There are now many other people entering the truffle tree supply and advisory roles within the industry nationally and internationally, some long time locals and some fly by nighters, so you should be asking your advisor/supplier some of the following questions.

Have they ever grown truffles from a tree they have inoculated themselves, if so where and how many?

What experience do they have with soil management, drainage and site selection?

What truffle experience do the soil scientists have behind the soil tests?

What experience do they have wth irrigation design, installation and monitoring?

What experience do they have with domestic and international marketing, grading and packaging of truffles?

How long have they been in the industry and did they come from an agricultural or academic background?

There has been a major failure in another country and also in Australia with one particular method of inoculation and we don't want a repeat of that, so ensure your supplier can back up what he spruiks!

Of all the books on truffles and literature on the market, 95% if it has been written by people who have never grown a truffle! If you are planning on using an international consultant and there are a few roaming the globe selling their wares, just ask them the same questions because what happens in another country or soil may well not apply here. Always rely on an experienced local!

There is a Company within Australia promoting a truffle fertilizer, however this product is unproven scientifically, is not a registered product wth the Fertilizer Industry Federation of Australia and has no safety data sheets registered with it, so buyers please be aware of any unregistered products as they may be a scam!

Truffles Australis and its subsidiary companies have been trying to help establish a marketing arm to assist other growers to market their truffles. Truffles Australis has been asked very recently by the Australian Truffle growers Association and RIRDC to assist in facilitating such a marketing entity. This has been ongoing for many years and after spending a considerable amount of our own money and time with consultants on the project it is still unviable for anyone to do this until such time as the volume of truffles has risen enough to warrant the marketing company. Other truffle companies within Australia have attempted to market other growers truffles and have found the same issues as I am talking about and they have been left with truffles in their freezers, which is an unsatisfactory result for everyone.

Truffles Australis is not a marketing company and has no intention of becoming one as is firmly of the belief that the marketing needs to be done by an expert indipendant company of any growers. We are trying to achieve this goal with other parties and this will ensure impartiality and confidentiality of all the sellers. So please be patient private enterprise will market your truffles when volumes are high enough.

The more I know the more I know I don't know!!