Editing Truffle (section)

{{Short description|Fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus}}
{{hatgrp|{{distinguish|Chocolate truffle}}{{other uses}}}}
[[File:Truffe_noire_du_Périgord.jpg|thumb|[[Tuber melanosporum|Black truffle]] (''Tuber melanosporum'')]]
[[File:White truffles from San Miniato.jpg|thumb|300px|White truffles from San Miniato]]
[[File:Black truffles, San Miniato.jpg|thumb|300px|Black truffles from San Miniato]]

A '''truffle''' is the [[Sporocarp (fungi)|fruiting body]] of a subterranean [[ascomycete]] [[fungus]], one of the species of the genus ''[[Tuber (fungus)|Tuber]]''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''[[Geopora]]'', ''[[Peziza]]'', ''[[Choiromyces]]'', and ''[[Leucangium]]''.<ref name="Læssøe 2007">{{Cite journal|last1=Læssøe|first1=Thomas|last2=Hansen|first2=Karen|date=September 2007|title=Truffle trouble: what happened to the Tuberales?|journal=Mycological Research|volume=111|issue=9|pages=1075–1099|doi=10.1016/j.mycres.2007.08.004|issn=0953-7562|pmid=18022534}}</ref> These genera belong to the class [[Pezizomycetes]] and the [[Pezizales]] order. Several truffle-like [[basidiomycetes]] are excluded from Pezizales, including ''[[Rhizopogon]]'' and ''Glomus''. Truffles are [[ectomycorrhiza]]l fungi, so they are found in close association with tree roots. Spore dispersal is accomplished through [[fungivore]]s, animals that eat fungi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cpbr.gov.au/fungi/dispersal.html|title=Spore release and dispersal|last=Lepp|first=Heino|website=Australian National Botanic Gardens|access-date=5 December 2016|archive-date=14 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114222732/http://www.cpbr.gov.au/fungi/dispersal.html|url-status=live}}</ref> These fungi have ecological roles in [[nutrient cycling]] and drought tolerance.

Some truffle species are prized as food.<ref name="brillat">{{cite book |last=Brillat-Savarin |first=Jean Anthelme |url=https://archive.org/details/physiologiedugo02savgoog |title=Physiologie du goût |publisher=Charpentier |year=1838 |location=Paris |author-link=Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin |orig-year=1825}} [http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/b/b85p/part11.html English translation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706020126/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/b/b85p/part11.html|date=2008-07-06}}</ref> Edible truffles are used in [[Italian cuisine|Italian]], [[French cuisine|French]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.traditionalfrenchfood.com/truffles.html|title=Truffles|date=2017|work=Traditional French Food Regional Recipes From Around France|access-date=2017-01-06|archive-date=2017-01-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107102536/http://www.traditionalfrenchfood.com/truffles.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and other national {{lang|fr|[[haute cuisine]]s}}. Truffles are [[Fungiculture|cultivated]] and harvested from natural environments.