What Is Black Truffle, and Why Is It Called the Diamond of Food?

Many people have certainly heard of the great name of black truffle, but few have actually come into contact with it, and they know very little about it. As a top-tier ingredient, black truffle has always been an extremely precious existence, and is even called “the diamond of food”. So with such high status, what exactly is black truffle? We can understand it from these 3 aspects.

1. Basic Overview of Black Truffle

Black truffle is an edible fungus, with an appearance resembling a pitted little clod of earth, mostly black and brown in color. Unlike other fungi, black truffle grows underground and is very difficult to find and harvest. The smell of black truffle is very peculiar, similar to the smell of bed sheets that have not been washed for years. Miraculously, this smell is not inherent to the black truffle itself, but is given off by the microorganisms parasitic on its surface, the same as the smell of a boar, so it can always be found by sows.

2. Distribution and Growing Environment of Black Truffle

Black truffle is extremely sensitive to the environment, and even a slight change can prevent it from growing; at the same time, unlike other fungi, black truffle requires sexual reproduction, and can only reproduce by relying on pollination spread by other animals. Under the constraints of harsh growing conditions, black truffle can only be wild and cannot be artificially cultivated, so its yield has always been extremely low. At present, black truffle is mainly distributed in a few areas of the Alps and the Himalayas. Within China, it is mainly distributed in the Panxi region of Sichuan Province. The maturity period of black truffle is in winter, and basically it can last from November to March of the following year.

3. Nutritional Value of Black Truffle

The high price of black truffle is not only because of its low yield, but also because of another factor: its nutritional value is quite high. In addition to rich protein and vitamins, it also contains 8 kinds of amino acids that the human body cannot synthesize, which play a great role in improving human immunity and resisting aging. In addition, the sphingolipid compounds contained in black truffle can effectively reduce the activity of cancer cells, making it a very good auxiliary therapeutic food for cancer patients, and it also has a very good promoting effect on health preservation and care.

From the above points of view, it is understandable that black truffle can become a world-renowned premium ingredient.