Where are the latest distribution areas of matsutake?
Matsutake has extremely strict requirements for its growing environment, and its growth process is also extremely slow, generally taking 5~6 years. At present, there is no successful precedent for artificial cultivation anywhere in the world. Japan is at the global forefront of research on artificial cultivation of matsutake, and from the beginning of the last century to now, it still cannot achieve artificial cultivation. Let us take a look below at the distribution of matsutake origins!
Distribution of matsutake origins
Matsutake is endemic to Asia, mainly distributed in Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and China's Shangri-La, Chuxiong, Yanbian, Taiwan, China and other areas. It is reported that there are variants of matsutake in the United States and Europe, but their yield is low and their quality is poor. Among the global matsutake production areas, China's Shangri-La matsutake production area has the highest matsutake yield, with an annual output accounting for about 70% of China's total matsutake production and 33% of global total production.
1. Domestic origins of matsutake in China: The main producing areas of matsutake are the Yanbian area of Jilin Province, the Mudanjiang area of Heilongjiang, and Yunnan and Tibet, among other places.
2. International origins of matsutake: The main international origins of matsutake include Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Myanmar, the United States, Mexico and other countries, and the shape of matsutake in each country is not completely the same.
The origin environment of matsutake
Matsutake has very strict requirements for its origin environment. It can only grow in primeval forests without any pollution or human intervention. Its spores must form a symbiotic relationship with the roots of pine trees, and the age of the symbiotic tree species must be more than 50 years before mycelium and shiro can form. At the same time, it needs to rely on broadleaf forests such as cypress and oak to provide nutritional support before it can form healthy fruiting bodies.
Before matsutake emerges from the soil, it must receive sufficient rain, and after emerging it must immediately receive sufficient light. In addition, factors such as temperature, insect damage, and damage to the mycelium caused by violent human harvesting also have a direct impact on the growth of matsutake. It can be said that the birth of every matsutake is a miracle of creation.
In recent years, global matsutake production has been declining year by year. The average annual output of fresh matsutake in China is currently only 2000 tons. Excluding old matsutake, young matsutake, damaged matsutake and single-leaf forest matsutake from poor origins, high-quality matsutake is less than 1000 tons, and when all processed into dried product it is about 60 tons, much less than the output of Cordyceps sinensis. Among them, matsutake longer than 16cm is less than 1 ton. Some experts call for quickly strengthening the protection of matsutake resources; otherwise, in the near future, we will permanently lose matsutake, this rare species.