Japan Institute Successfully Cultivates White Truffle

Tokyo, Feb. 9 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute said Thursday that it has successfully cultivated a type of highly prized white truffle artificially on a trial basis for the first time in the country.

The institute said it is aiming to develop a technique for cultivating the truffle, hoping for a stable supply of the delicacy. The institute believes it will take around 10 years to establish such a technique.

Considered one of the world's top three delicacies, truffles are aromatic fungi found underground. While black truffles are artificially grown in Europe, white truffles can currently only be harvested from the wild.

In Japan, more than 20 species of truffles grow in the wild. But the country has no established cultivation techniques and imports truffles at high prices.

The institute targeted a type of truffle that is widespread from the northeastern prefecture of Iwate to the western prefecture of Okayama and was confirmed as a new species in 2016. It is different from the white truffle that grows in Europe.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]