Périgord black truffle (Tuber melanosporum)
Tuber melanosporum from the Périgord (Dordogne) region — France's classic black truffle, though buyers should note most modern 'Périgord' truffle supply is semi-cultivated (trufficulture), not truly wild-foraged.
| Origin | Périgord, France |
| Indian subcontinent | No |
| Category | Fungi & Functional Mycology |
| Retail price band | Fresh Tuber melanosporum ('fine black truffle') quoted at roughly €1,025/kg on a specialist truffle-price tracker updated December 2025; another tracker (2021 data) showed roughly $721/kg — truffle prices swing sharply year to year with rainfall and harvest volume. |
| Bulk / trade price band | Wholesale suppliers sell fresh winter black truffle from 250g lots upward at professional rates; peer-reviewed research (Mycorrhiza journal) documents a long-term decline in French black truffle production, meaning bulk wild-French supply is structurally limited and increasingly supplemented by cultivated orchard output and imports sold under similar branding. |
| 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 melanosporum is an ectomycorrhizal ascomycete fungus that forms below-ground fruiting bodies in symbiosis with oak and hazel roots on calcareous soils, traditionally hunted with trained dogs in autumn-winter; the Périgord/Dordogne region of southwest France is its namesake historic heartland. Peer-reviewed climatic studies document long-term production decline linked to both climatic variation and land-use change.
Provenance & producer
Today, the great majority of commercial French Tuber melanosporum comes from managed truffière orchards (oak/hazel seedlings deliberately inoculated with truffle spores, cultivated ~7–10 years to first harvest) rather than uncontrolled wild forest foraging. A product marketed as 'wild-harvest' Périgord truffle should be explicit about whether it is genuinely uncultivated forest-foraged or orchard-grown-but-region-authentic.
Market & pricing
A specialist truffle price tracker (tartufo.com) quoted fresh Tuber melanosporum at approximately €1,025/kg as of December 2025; a separate tracker (truffle.farm, 2021 data) showed roughly $721/kg — the spread illustrates genuine year-to-year and source volatility.
Compliance & export
Fungi are outside CITES scope. 'Périgord truffle' is a traditional/geographic descriptor rather than a codified EU Protected Designation of Origin for the species broadly (verify current PDO/PGI status for any specific sub-label used); French/EU food-safety and traceability rules plus standard export phytosanitary certification apply to fresh truffle exports to India.
Sources
- Truffle price updated December 2025 — Tuber Melanosporum ~€1,025/kg (Tartufo.com)
- Truffle price tracker — Tuber melanosporum ~$721/kg (truffle.farm, 2021 data)
- Climatic variations and 48-year decline in French Périgord black truffle production (Mycorrhiza)
- Learn more on truffles in France (France.fr)
- Tuber melanosporum — Wikipedia
Image status
A working reference photograph is in place, captured from a freely-licensed Wikimedia Commons source (File:Truffe nature.JPG). Hosted on Wikimedia Commons; exact tag not independently re-verified — confirm on 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.