Editing Boletus edulis (section)

===Commercial harvest===
[[File:Steinpilz 2006 08 3.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Approximately two dozen brown-capped, white or light-brown stemmed mushrooms of various sizes in a brown bowl.|Porcini can vary considerably in size.]]
A 1998 estimate suggested that the total annual worldwide consumption of ''Boletus edulis'' and closely related species (''B.&nbsp;aereus'', ''B.&nbsp;pinophilus'', and ''B.&nbsp;reticulatus'') was between 20,000 and 100,000 tons.<ref name=Hall1998/> Approximately 2,700&nbsp;tonnes (3,000&nbsp;[[Short ton|tons]]) were sold in France, Italy and Germany in 1988, according to official figures. The true amount consumed far exceeds this, as the official sales figures did not account for informal sales or consumption by collectors.<ref name=Hall2003/> They are widely exported and sold in dried form, reaching countries where they do not occur naturally, such as Australia and New Zealand. The autonomous community of [[Castile and León]] in Spain produces 7,700&nbsp;tonnes (8,500&nbsp;tons) annually.<ref name=Agueda2008>{{cite journal |vauthors=Agueda B, Parlade J, Fernandez-Toiran LM, Cisneros O, de Miguel AM, Modrego MP, Martinez-Pena F, Pera J |year=2008 |title=Mycorrhizal synthesis between ''Boletus edulis'' species complex and rockroses (''Cistus'' sp.) |journal=Mycorrhiza |pmid=18695982 |volume=18 |issue=8 |pages=443–49 |doi=10.1007/s00572-008-0192-3|s2cid=11233267 }}</ref> In autumn, the price of porcini in the Northern Hemisphere typically ranges between $20 and $80&nbsp;per kilogram, although in New York in 1997 the wholesale price rose to more than $200 per kilogram due to scarcity.<ref name=Hall2003/>

In the vicinity of [[Borgo Val di Taro|Borgotaro]] in the [[Province of Parma]] of northern Italy, the four species ''Boletus edulis'', ''B.&nbsp;aereus'', ''B.&nbsp;aestivalis'' and ''B.&nbsp;pinophilus'' have been recognised for their superior taste and officially termed ''Fungo di Borgotaro''. Here these mushrooms have been collected for centuries and exported commercially. Owing to the globalisation of the mushroom trade most of the porcini commercially available in Italy or exported by Italy no longer originate there. Porcini and other mushrooms are also imported into Italy from various locations, especially China and eastern European countries; these are then often re-exported under the "Italian porcini" label.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Sitta N, Floriani M |year=2008 |title=Nationalization and globalization trends in the wild mushroom commerce of Italy with emphasis on porcini (''Boletus edulis'' and allied species) |journal=Economic Botany |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=307–22 |doi=10.1007/s12231-008-9037-4|s2cid=44274570 }}</ref><ref name=Boa2004>{{cite book |author= Boa E. |title=Wild Edible Fungi: A Global Overview of Their Use and Importance to People (Non-Wood Forest Products) |publisher=Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN |location=Rome, Italy |year=2004 |pages=96–97 |isbn=92-5-105157-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zd2NlcNZgvcC&q=boletus%20edulis&pg=PA97|access-date=2009-10-30}}</ref>

In Italy the disconnect with local production has had an adverse effect on quality; for example in the 1990s some of the dried porcino mushrooms exported to Italy from China contained species of genus ''[[Tylopilus]]'', which are rather similar in appearance and when dried are difficult for both mushroom labourers and mycologists alike to distinguish from ''Boletus''. ''Tylopilus'' species typically have a very bitter taste, which is imparted to the flavour of the porcini with which they are mixed.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sitta N. |year=2000 |title=Presence of ''Tylopilus'' into dried "Porcini" mushrooms from China |journal=Micologia Italiana |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=96–99 |issn=0390-0460|language=it}}</ref>

After the [[revolutions of 1989|fall of the Iron Curtain]] and the subsequent reduction of economic and political barriers, central and eastern European countries with local mushroom harvesting traditions, such as Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia, developed into exporters of porcini, concentrating primarily on the Italian market.<ref name=Boa2004/> Porcini and other wild fungi from these countries are also destined for France, Germany and other western European markets, where demand for them exists but collection on a commercial scale does not.<ref name=Boa2004/> Picking ''B.&nbsp;edulis'' has become an annual seasonal income earner and pastime in countries like [[Bulgaria]], especially for many [[Romani people|Roma]] communities and the [[unemployment|unemployed]].<ref name=belogradchik>{{cite web |url=http://www.belogradchik.info/1/content/view/390/2/lang,bg/ |language=bg |title=''По 1 тон гъби на ден се предават в изкупвателните пунктове в Белоградчик'' |trans-title=One ton of mushrooms a day are being submitted to purchasing stations in Belogradchik |author=Focus Information Agency, Bulgaria |work=Belogradchik.info |access-date=2009-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721185827/http://www.belogradchik.info/1/content/view/390/2/lang%2Cbg/ |archive-date=2011-07-21 }}</ref> A lack of control of the harvest has led to heavy exploitation of the mushroom resource.<ref name=worldwildlife>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/bsp/publications/europe/bulgaria/bulgaria1.html |title=The Macromycetes Fungi of Bulgaria |vauthors=Drumeva M, Gyosheva M |work= World Wildlife Fund|access-date=2009-11-27}}</ref>

Like many other strictly mycorrhizal fungi, ''B.&nbsp;edulis'' has eluded cultivation attempts for years.<ref name=Arora86/><ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Chang ST, Miles PG |title=Mushrooms: Cultivation, Nutritional Value, Medicinal Effect, and Environmental Impact|url=https://archive.org/details/mushroomscultiva00mile |url-access=limited |edition=2nd |year=2004|publisher=CRC Press |location= Boca Raton, Florida|isbn=0-8493-1043-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/mushroomscultiva00mile/page/n155 131]}}</ref><ref name="Wang2014" /> The results of some studies suggest that unknown components of the soil microflora might be required for ''B.&nbsp;edulis'' to establish a mycorrhizal relationship with the host plant.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Veselkov IM. |year=1975 |title=Artificial propagation of ''Boletus edulis'' in forests |journal=Растительньіе Ресурсы России|volume=11 |pages= 574–78}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Ceruti A, Tozzi M, Reitano G |year=1988 |title=Micorize di sintesi tra ''Boletus edulis'', ''Pinus sylvestris'' e ''Picea excelsa'' |journal=Allionia (Turin)|volume=28 |pages= 117–24|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Fitter AH, Garbaye J |year=1994 |chapter=Interaction between mycorrhizal fungi and other organisms|title=Management of Mycorrhizas in Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry |veditors=Robson AD, Abbott LK, Malajczuk N |isbn=978-0-7923-2700-4 |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |location=Dordrecht, Netherlands}}</ref> Successful attempts at cultivating ''B.&nbsp;edulis'' have been made by Spanish scientists by mycorrhization of ''Cistus'' species,<ref name="Wang2014" /> with [[Pseudomonas fluorescens|''Pseudomonas&nbsp;fluorescens'']] bacteria helping the mycorrhiza.<ref name="Mediavilla2015" />

{{nutritionalvalue
| name=''Boletus edulis'', fresh<ref name=Caglarlrmak2002>Nutritional values are based on [[food chemistry|chemical analysis]] of Turkish specimens, conducted by Çaglarlrmak and colleagues at the Agricultural Faculty, Food Engineering Department, [[Gaziosmanpașa University]]. Source: {{cite journal |vauthors=Çaglarlrmak N, Ünal K, Ötles S |year=2001 |title=Nutritional value of edible wild mushrooms collected from the Black Sea region of Turkey |journal=Micologia Aplicada International |volume= 14|issue=1 |pages=1–5 |url=http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/685/68514101.pdf}}</ref>
| kJ=342.4
| protein=7.39&nbsp;g
| fat=1.70&nbsp;g
| carbs=9.23&nbsp;g
| iron_mg=0.739
| calcium_mg=1.195
| copper_mg=0.786
| phosphorus_mg=22.26
| potassium_mg=203.3
| zinc_mg=4.172
| vitC_mg=4.21
| pantothenic_mg=2.64
| vitB6_mg=0.051
| folate_ug=290
| thiamin_mg=0.105
| riboflavin_mg=0.092
| niacin_mg=6.07
| source_usda=1
}}