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Old 12-05-2008, 01:56 AM   #1
Antaletriangle
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Join Date: Sep 2008
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Default French scientists planning to clone luxury "black diamond" truffles

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddr...-truffles.html
By Urmee Khan
Last Updated: 6:57AM GMT 04 Dec 2008

The pungent fungi may soon be created in test tubes instead of under the roots of trees, according to reports.

France produced 1,000 tonnes of black truffles a year at the beginning of the 20th century, but the figure has now fallen to 40 to 50 tonnes.

Marking the start of the truffle season, the French region of Corrèze will sign an accord for a three-year project with Delpeyrat, which has been making truffle conserves since the 19th century, and STEF-TFE, a food transport company.

Together, they will endeavour to unlock the secrets of what makes the black truffle so special – the soil, climate or trees – and, it is hoped, revive an endangered industry by producing a more consistent crop.

The project will involve culturing cloned truffles together with baby trees in test tubes until they form, a process that can take a year. Once established, pairs will be planted out to mature naturally.

The domestic variety's increasing rarity reflects the decline of French agriculture as well as the fungus's mysterious growth pattern. Truffles are not so much grown as found. The trees are often at least 20 years old before truffles are sniffed out, usually by trained dogs.

Most of the crop is consumed domestically, along with imports of much cheaper truffles from China.

Jacques Pebeyre, a truffier known as France's "truffle king" said: "We are in peril – there's no doubt of that.

"There are fewer and fewer people willing to produce truffles. Young people prefer cereals," he told the Financial Times.

"I am not against helping nature. We need to know how good these truffles will be. In the end, it all depends on that," he added.
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