Could Scotland strike it lucky with black gold?
THEY are one of the world’s most expensive and prized ingredients and notoriously tough to find.
Now experts predict that Scotland will become one of the world’s major truffle producers – due to the effects of climate change.
Researchers at the University of Stirling say European truffle production – mostly in France, Italy and Spain – will decline by between 78 and 100 per cent between 2071 and 2100.
Higher summer temperatures and less rainfall means Europe will lose truffles – but Scotland will be able to get a bigger share of the market.
Dr Paul Thomas, of the university’s faculty of natural sciences, said: ‘When we look at the west of the UK and Scotland in particular, these are two parameters that we are not likely to struggle with.’
He added: ‘These findings indicate that conservational initiatives are required to afford some protection to this important and iconic species. Potential action could include the expansion of truffle plantations into new territories of a more favourable future climate.
‘It could well be the case that we win where they lose.’
Black truffles – nicknamed black gold thanks to their value – now trade at more than £500 per lb and the industry is worth hundreds of millions of pounds to the European economy.
Stirling University researchers announced last year that truffles had been successfully cultivated in Scotland for the first time.
The fungus was grown in the root system of native oak trees south of Edinburgh, and harvested with the help of a sniffer dog.
Dr Thomas is now involved in a larger trial with 300 oak and hazel trees on the Isle of Bute.
He said: ‘The socio-economic impact of the predicted decline could be substantially larger as truffle harvesting and related activities form a key component of local history and cultural activity.’
The findings are published in the academic journal Science of the Total Environment.