How truffles are made in Ukraine

 

 

The most expensive mushroom in the world, priced at 2,000 euros per kilogram, can be easily grown in Ukraine. But you can't sell.

Agravery understood the peculiarities of "quiet hunting" and the business opportunities of this "niche", reports the National Industrial Portal.

Truffles are considered one of the most expensive delicacies and belong to those rare seasonal products that can be eaten only for a short period of time once a year - in autumn, when they acquire maximum aromatic properties.

    Truffles grow in oak, oak-hornbeam forests, or in sparse forest plantations on limestone soils. Most often alone or in groups of 2-7 fruiting bodies to a depth of 30 centimeters. Collecting truffles is a complex process that requires increased care and long preparation. Truffles grow one by one, each tuber is located separately and should be removed from the root of the tree so as not to damage it. Collectors are looking for places with earth mushrooms thanks to wild pigs, which are sensitive to their smell. Specially trained dogs are also used for this purpose. Specific yellow flies always swarm above the place where the truffle grows in the ground.

There are nine types of truffles in the world. Truffles, which grow in France, Italy, Switzerland, and Ukraine, are the most popular among consumers. In the Carpathians, the largest white, so-called Istrian, truffle in the forests of Transcarpathia - Volovets, Tyachiv, Bereznyansky and partly Perechyn and Mukachevo districts. Also, large "deposits" of truffles are located in Vinnytsia and even - in Kyiv region. According to Oleksandr Dzhyha, an agricultural consultant, in addition to white truffles, black truffles grow naturally in Ukrainian forests, but people simply do not know about it. There is no tradition of consuming them in Ukraine, so people throw them away en masse or feed them to livestock.

However, it is still impossible to sell Ukrainian truffles legally collected in the forests, as they are listed in the Red Book. It is also not possible to sell mushrooms grown on farms. “Appropriate changes should be made to the Red Book on industrial breeding of this mushroom and a relevant bylaw should be adopted. Then the cultivation of truffles will be legal. However, until the law on wildflowers is adopted, which determines the possibility of exporting "gifts of forests", truffles can be sold only in Ukraine, "says Oleksandr Dzhiga.

However, the expert says, the lack of legislation does not mean that there is no truffle business in Ukraine. First, about 20 professional truffle players are "hunting" in the forests. Secondly, there are about a dozen farms where they plan to grow, but so far only prepare production.

    The world's largest white truffle, found 10 years ago in the Italian city of San Miniato, reached 2.5 kg. White truffle is more rare and valuable than its closest "relative" - ​​black truffle. Thus, Tuscan truffles are sold for 4 thousand euros per kilogram, which is twice as expensive as in 2006. The price of Alba truffles from the northern province of Piedmont, which are called "white diamonds", can reach 7.5 thousand euros.

The average price for a quality truffle will be from 500 to 2,000 euros per kilogram - the price varies depending on the marketability, ripeness (aroma), structure of the truffle.

As a rule, truffles are sold from Ukraine "black", through intermediaries - from Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. Then the goods go to Italy, Britain, Russia, Israel and Canada, but already under European logos. There are truffle players who carry goods across the border themselves. In this case, if a batch of selected delicacy costs 40,000 euros, then half has to be given "in the pocket" to customs.

And inside the country, the price of truffles is quite decent - restaurateurs in Kiev, Lviv and Odessa are ready to replace imported French mushrooms, and spread from 4000 UAH per kilogram of quality goods. As a rule, says Jiga, the scheme is as follows - truffle suppliers import a small batch of French mushrooms and mix them with Ukrainian ones. The resulting, much larger batch is sold in restaurants.

 

Legislation on wildlife may change in the near future. If the Red Book and the relevant bylaws are amended after that, a new type of business will appear in Ukraine. This case is time consuming and time consuming, but it is worth noting. The process looks like this: acorns from under the oaks, where there were truffles, are collected and sown in another soil, mixing with the soil from the cities of mushroom growth. Fungal spores are sometimes added to pigs' food, and then, when the product passes through the digestive system of pigs, manure is added to new plantings. Thus the land with truffle spores intertwines with young trees and the fruiting body of the fungus is formed. Or do it with a modern method - use special drugs that already contain truffle spores.

The starting material for this is bought in France at a price of more than 2000 euros / kilogram, the drug is used to root mycorrhiza. There is also a Ukrainian analogue with a much lower price - 700-800 UAH per liter. This amount is enough to mycorrhize about a hectare. 

The first harvests of such mushrooms can be expected in 6 years, and to give stable harvests this land can give about 25-30 years. In general, using such experience, up to 15 kg of mushrooms can be collected from one hectare of artificial plantation.

Alexander Jiga claims that almost all plants can be mycorrhizal with black and white truffles, except Christophilus (because they emit substances toxic to mycorrhiza). Due to mycorrhiza the plant increases its root system by 2 times. At the same time, the fruiting body of the truffle appears 6-10 years after the inoculation of the tree, although this period can be somewhat reduced. As the practical experience of truffle growers shows, the most suitable for mycorrhization are nut trees - hazelnuts, walnuts, etc. Due to the integrated irrigation system, the first truffles in intensive nut orchards can be obtained as early as 5 years after inoculation.

The harvest of truffles can vary greatly from year to year. Of course, the best truffles will always have a high price, but in years of poor harvest, the price can double or even triple. It should be borne in mind that truffles have a very short shelf life, so to assess the uniqueness of taste, they should be tried fresh - during transportation, they can be damaged and wither quite quickly. As a result, truffles sell out fairly quickly during the season, restaurants often even race for the freshest mushrooms, and connoisseurs flock to Italy or France at this time to enjoy a rare local delicacy as soon as possible.