Japan researchers achieve second success in artificial black truffle cultivation

Japanese researchers have successfully cultivated black truffles artificially for the second time, marking a significant step in efforts to develop stable growing methods.
The Yamanashi Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, in collaboration with the Forest Research and Management Organization based in the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, announced the cultivation on Nov. 1.
While black truffles do grow naturally in Japan, cultivation methods are still underdeveloped, prompting ongoing research. At present, Japan’s domestic market relies entirely on imports.
In 2018, the two organizations attached spores of Tuber himalayense, an Asian variety of black truffle, to 55 chestnut saplings and planted them at two test sites in Yamanashi Prefecture to explore artificial cultivation.
This September, six years after planting, the researchers successfully cultivated 12 black truffles totaling 200 grams, with genetic analysis confirming they originated from the spores attached to chestnut saplings.

The achievement follows the first breakthrough announced last December by the Gifu Prefectural Research Institute for Forests and the Forest Research and Management Organization in Tsukuba.
Truffles, like matsutake mushrooms, are mycorrhizal fungi that form symbiotic relationships with the roots of living trees. Unlike mushrooms, they cannot be grown on mushroom beds, making artificial cultivation particularly challenging, according to the Tsukuba-based research institute.
Moving forward, the team plans to confirm the reproducibility of their cultivation process, refine infection techniques and explore optimal conditions for truffle growth to stabilize production.