The Western Australian truffle industry is just 20 years old - with the first truffles unearthed from beneath specially inoculated oak and hazelnut trees in 2003. From a few hundred grams just over a decade ago, the industry is now producing 5-6 tonnes of Black Périgord truffle each year with 90 per cent of this exported to Europe, Asia and America.
Western Australia leads the nation in truffle production – generating about 80 per cent of Australia’s annual crop. Manjmup in the south west of Western Australia is the State’s epicentre for truffle production – having been identified by the industry’s founders as having the climate and soils suited to the Black truffle fungus Tuber melanosporum.
The industry’s success is underpinned by a successful marriage of science and business investment. The mycorrhizal symbiosis between Tuber melanosporum and its host trees is fraught with complexity. This presentation will outline some of the science behind the industry’s establishment and its ongoing success.