FSSAI has framed standards for ‘Edible Fungi Products’ (2.3.62) in the Food Safety and Standards (Food product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations 2011. However, the standards for edible truffle have not yet been provided under the above-mentioned standards.
Therefore, the FSSAI on the recommendations of Scientific Panel on Fruits and Vegetables and their products (including dried fruits and nuts) allows the following listed edible truffle species for import.
- Tuber melanosporum Vittadini
- Tuber aestivum Vittadini
- Tuber uncinatum Chatin
- Tuber mezsentericum Vittadini
- Tuber magnatum Pico
- Tuber macrosporum Vittadini
- Tuber gibbosum Gilkey
- Tuber borchii Vittadini
- Tuber brumale Vittadini
- Geoporacooperi
- Tuber indicum
About Edible Truffle
According to Wikipedia edible truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus Tuber. Some of the truffle species are highly prized as food. French gourmet Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin called truffles “the diamond of the kitchen”.Edible truffles are held in high esteem in French, Italian, Ottoman, Middle Eastern and Spanish cuisine, as well as in international haute cuisine. Truffles are cultivated agriculturally and are also harvested from natural habitats.
Edible Truffles can be white and black and both look like a lumpy potato but are different in taste and shelf-life. While the black truffle can be frozen and stored white truffles cannot be frozen and have a short shelf-life of about 10 days so need to be consumed within that period. However, they are both subterranean fungus that grows in the shadow of oak trees.
Truffles grow underground and have a form a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the trees as the tuber uses nutrients from the tree roots.
There are several different truffle species found all over the world. The Italian and French countryside is rich in truffle growth. Black truffles grow with the oak and hazelnut trees in the Périgord region in France. Burgundy truffles can be found throughout Europe in general, like the black summer truffle. White truffles are found in various regions of Italy near certain types of trees. Truffles are one of the most expensive foods but prices vary according to the different types of truffles with white truffles commanding the highest prices because of their exceptional flavour and aroma.
Leave a Reply