Alba white truffle (Tuber magnatum pico)
The Alba white truffle (Tuber magnatum pico) is Piedmont's signature autumn hypogeous fungus, foraged by licensed trifolau under oak, poplar and lime trees in the Langhe and Roero hills.
| Origin | Piedmont, Italy |
| Indian subcontinent | No |
| Category | Fungi & Functional Mycology |
| Retail price band | Retail: roughly $2,000-6,500/kg (~$60-180 per 30g portion) for fresh, in-season table-grade truffles, based on 2025-2026 gourmet-retailer listings (igourmet, PRIMA Vini, Casa Truffle, SMD Selections); exceptional specimens at the annual Alba World Auction have fetched far higher single-lot prices. |
| Bulk / trade price band | Price is set daily at the Alba truffle market and fluctuates sharply with rainfall and season length; European wholesale benchmarks for Tuber magnatum have historically run €2,000-5,000+/kg in a normal year, spiking in scarce years — buyers should expect a live quote, not a fixed bulk rate. |
| Sourcing status | Dossier researched from public sources — producer contact not yet established |
| Compliance status | Preliminary review complete (see below) — not yet legally verified |
Detailed study
Tuber magnatum pico is a mycorrhizal ascomycete that fruits underground in symbiosis with oak, poplar, willow and lime roots in calcareous, well-drained soils. It cannot be reliably cultivated at scale and is located in the wild using trained dogs, making supply inherently limited and season-dependent (typically late September to December).
Provenance & producer
Licensed trifolau (truffle hunters) in the Langhe, Roero and Monferrato hills around Alba hold regional foraging permits under Piedmont's truffle law and sell fresh finds through the Alba truffle market or directly to established truffle houses. Traceability to a named hunter/parcel is possible but not guaranteed for every lot — buyers should request a market-origin certificate.
Market & pricing
Retail gourmet sellers price fresh Alba white truffle from roughly $60-180 per 30g in the 2025-2026 season depending on size/grade, while single record specimens at the Alba World Auction have sold for tens to hundreds of thousands of euros for charity/promotional lots. Ordinary commercial-grade wholesale runs far below auction spectacle prices and is highly weather-dependent.
Compliance & export
Tuber magnatum is not CITES-listed; it is regulated instead under Italian national and Piedmont regional truffle-harvesting law (permits, season dates, size/quality grading, traceability documentation), and IUCN currently assesses it as Vulnerable due to habitat loss. As a long-traditional European food it is not subject to EU Novel Food authorisation.
Sources
- Gourmandise Deluxe – Truffle Prices per Kilogram 2026
- igourmet – Fresh White Truffles, Italian Alba
- WineNews – Record-breaking Alba White Truffle World Auction
- European Forest Institute – Regulation required for Mediterranean mushrooms and truffles
Image status
A working reference photograph is in place, captured from a freely-licensed Wikimedia Commons source (File:Tuber_Magnatum_Pico_(cropped).jpg). Listed on Wikimedia Commons under the Tuber magnatum category; verify the specific licence tag on the file page before use. Treat this as a placeholder for marketing purposes: exact licence terms should be re-verified on the Commons file page, and original producer photography is recommended before final trade use.