Two New Truffle Species Discovered (by Dogs)

Researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Florida have confirmed the discovery of two new species of truffles in North America. The scientists confirmed it, but the discovery was made by a couple of good dogs.

One of the new species, Tuber cumberlandense, was sniffed out by a trained truffle dog named Luca and named for the area where it was found, the Cumberland Plateau in the southern Appalachians. The other was found in the same region, by a dog named Monza, and is called Tuber canirevelatum, which means “dog-found” truffle.

While Luca and Monza were able to sniff out the fungi from the surface, the scientists used chemical spectrometry to measure the volatile organic compounds released by the truffles. T. canirevelatum was rich in dimethyl sulfide and methyl 1-propenyl sulfide, which accounts for the truffle’s savory garlic aroma.

T. cumberlandense has some of the same compounds found in the classic European varieties – the Périgord black truffle and the Piedmont white – which explains why it is already attracting interest as a possible commercially grown variety.

“This particular species enjoys a symbiotic relationship with their host, white oaks, growing from their roots and providing nutrition to the trees,” says Gregory Bonito, a professor of microbial sciences at MSU.

“Maker’s Mark is interested in cultivating T. cumberlandense because they store their whiskey in white oak barrels. They will be reforesting their land in Kentucky with white oaks for the barrels and hope one day to harvest truffles as well; perhaps they will even create truffle-infused whiskey.” Interesting because Maker’s already has a line of the other kind of truffles – the chocolate ones.

The researchers are pretty sure that many more unknown truffles lie beneath the soil surface. “We suspect many native tuber species remain to be discovered and described,” Bonito says. “This task will be enhanced through the continued collaboration between mycologists — scientists who study fungi — the public and trained truffle dogs.”

The discoveries are reported in the journal Mycologia.