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Edible mycorrhizal fungi - a high value industry for New Zealand
<< introduction
DNA species testing
The mycorrhizal roots of plants are tested using morphological and molecular tools to identify exactly the fungi present. The feasibility of developing an in situ hybridisation technique to identify and locate the fungal species within the host plant tissues very precisely is being assessed.
Saffron Milk Cap mycorrhizae
Fruiting
Sometimes trees known to have mycorrhizae of the desired fungus fail to produce fruiting bodies (truffles or mushrooms) after several years. There may be many reasons for this because fruiting is the result of a complex interaction between the mycorrhizal fungi and both biotic (action of other organisms) and abiotic (mineral and biochemical properties of soils) factors in the surrounding soil. Crop & Food Research scientists are adding to knowledge about successful production of truffles and mushrooms.
Périgord black truffle cultivation
Crop & Food Research scientists have a wealth of information about cultivating Périgord black truffles. They recommend a combination of hazel and oak trees as hosts because hazels may produce earlier and oaks may produce for longer. The better growing areas tend to experience warmer summers and cooler winters. Soils need to be alkaline (above 7.5 with an optimum of 7.9), rich in calcium carbonate and with a carbon-nitrogen ratio of about 10:1. They also need to be well-aerated and well-drained. The presence of other trees that may have competing mycorrhizal fungi on their roots should be carefully considered.
Creating world-class commercial truffières
Truffle Investments New Zealand Ltd (TRINZ), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crop & Food Research, is building the foundation of a world class commercial truffle industry in New Zealand. While there are more than 100 truffières in the country, ranging in size from 20 trees to over 4000 trees, annual production is variable. TRINZ is establishing a number of larger truffières varying in size from 1000 to 1500 trees to support the basis of a commercial industry. TRINZ is providing truffle-infected oak and hazel trees to landowners with a full consultancy service from Crop & Food Research staff. Application of the accumulated knowledge about truffle production technology should offer more confidence about truffle harvests and a regular quality supply for markets. In this regard, Crop & Food Research is working closely with the New Zealand Truffle Association.
Information on the development of
ectomycorrhizal mushroom business in the Southern Hemisphere is available from Crop & Food Research.
Edible fungi team (left to right): Alexis Guerin, George Strong,
Nina Hesom-Williams, Slaven Kljucanin and Yun Wang.
Research staff assisting with Crop & Food Research consultancy are:
Alexis Guerin
Alexis Guerin leads Crop & Food Research's edible fungi team. His main interest is the ecology, physiology, and cultivation of the edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms. During his PhD study at INRA-Montpellier, France, on the genus Lactarius, the saffron milk cap fruited for the first time quickly and under soilless controlled conditions. He spent five years at the University of Tokyo where he contributed to clarifying the trophic status and the genetic diversity of the Japanese delicacy matsutake (pine mushroom) and developed methods for the formation of matsutake mycorrhizae under various conditions.
Professor Yun Wang
Professor Yun Wang has worked on taxonomy, ecology and cultivation of edible mycorrhizal mushrooms and other fungi for many years in China, USA and New Zealand. His knowledge, experience and achievements in this field have been recognised internationally. Wang has successfully introduced the saffron milk cap in pine plantations in New Zealand. He graduated from NW Agricultural University, China, and received a PhD in Botany from Otago University in New Zealand. Wang has been working on matsutake, saffron milk cap and other edible fungi at Invermay, Crop & Food Research, New Zealand, since 1990.
Carolyn Dixon
As a field technician for the edible fungi team Carolyn provides technical support to the New Zealand truffle industry. This includes technical assistance for ectomycorrhizal field trials for several tuber species. She also assists with other fungal species such as shoro and porcini. Carolyn helps to assess the suitability of sites for truffle production on behalf of TRINZ.
Graham Smellie
TRINZ chief executive, Graham Smellie, is a Crop & Food Research Investments Manager who works closely with the scientists and edible fungi clients.
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Working
with us
Fruiting bodies of Saffron Milk Cap
in a New Zealand plantation. 
