Tuber Magnatum – Italian White Truffle

The Italian white truffle (Tuber magnatum) is mainly found below 600 meters ASL in northern Italy and up to 900 meters ASL in central Italy. It is also found in small areas of southeastern France, in Istria, Croatia, and the Ticino district of Switzerland.

Average January temperatures in these areas range between -2 and 8 °C and average July temperatures between 18 and 26 °C. The average annual rainfall varies from 500 to 2,000 mm, which is distributed more or less evenly throughout the year. Although in summer, this rain is usually like thunderstorms.

In Italy, this truffle is found in forests with more or less closed canopies, also in areas with relatively sparse vegetation along stream beds. Host trees include hazels (Corylus avellana), willows (Salix spp.), hornbeams (Ostrya carpinifolia), Italian alders (Alnus cordata), cottonwoods and poplars (Populus spp.), and oaks (Quercus spp.). The most productive hosts are poplars and willows.

The Italian truffle is harvested from mid-August to the end of December. In August and early September, fruiting truffles are often severely infested by insect larvae such as Suillia univittata.

Unlike the black truffle, the Italian truffle is used raw or added to dishes after cooking. The white truffle is used as a flavoring for salads or pasta, to preserve its delicate and volatile aroma. As the black truffle is often used in cooked dishes and is harvested between November and March, there is little competition in the market between the two types of truffle.

Tuber magnatum (Italian white truffle) is the most expensive of the truffles. It is considered the queen of all truffles while the black truffle is considered the queen in gastronomic circles.

Large Italian white truffles of more than 250 gr. and up to 2 kg. they usually command a relatively higher price. Pickers receive around 60% of the wholesale price. In Italy, to avoid paying sales tax on truffles (paid by the seller), up to half of the harvest is sold on the black market.

The Italian white truffle has not yet been cultivated (artificially inoculated) on any host tree. Therefore, supplies are limited to what can be gathered from natural areas. Even as late as 2010, there were reports that some scientists were close to successfully inoculating host trees with the Italian white truffle spore or mycelium. So let’s hope that this mystery can finally be solved and more Italian truffles can be planted.

Italian white truffles are commercially canned and bottled, but the aroma changes in this process. When the truffle is preserved, they are quite inferior to the fresh truffle. Cans and bottles of Italian white truffles may also contain other morphologically similar species such as Tuber dryophilum, Tuber borchii (bianchetto) or Tuber maculatum. Italian white truffle oil is widely sold in upscale delicatessens. Sadly, most of these truffle flavored olive oils have never seen a truffle. The aroma of the truffle is usually derived from added chemicals. Despite high demand and high prices, Italian white truffle production, like the black truffle, has declined over the last 100 years.

the black truffle