July 29, 2016
CapitalPress.com
7
Fungus expert spawns trufle orchards
INNOVATION APPLIED!
Capital Press
While the technical craft of
Charles Lefevre’s job is com-
plex, the purpose is simple: En-
couraging the natural symbiosis
between trees and fungi.
In Lefevre’s case, the fungi
are of the Tuber genus, which
produce highly sought-after truf-
les and colonize the roots of nu-
merous tree species.
Trufles are known for their
culinary desirability and high
cost, but the primary role of the
fungus is as an extension of the
tree’s root system, helping it ab-
sorb water and nutrients. In ex-
change, it’s supplied with starch-
es and sugars for growth.
“Mycorrhizal fungi and my-
corrhizal trees never live without
each other,” Lefevre said. “You
don’t have to trick them.”
Even so, inoculating tree
roots with the fungus in a nurs-
ery setting requires providing the
right levels of nutrients, water, air
and light.
Lefevre must also conduct
genetic testing to ensure that his
trees — which are sold to land-
owners across North America —
are colonized with the right spe-
cies of trufle, rather than some
other type of mycorrhizal fungus.
Luckily for aspiring trufle
farmers, the fungus will thrive in
a “simpliied” environment, such
as a planted orchard, and doesn’t
require the complex ecosystem
of an old growth forest.
“They’re exactly the type of
organism we can grow. They
like living with us,” Lefevre said.
“They’re early successional or-
ganisms. When you wipe the
slate clean, they’re among the
irst organisms to arrive.”
Aside from providing land-
owners with trees, Lefevre con-
ducts site evaluations to see if
a property has the basic criteria
needed for effective trufle pro-
duction and what can be done to
correct deiciencies.
He’s found that the fungus is
adaptable to a broader range of
soil conditions than traditionally
thought to be appropriate, likely
because the organism is liberated
from its natural competitors.
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Charles Lefevre, a mycologist, inoculates trees with fungi that pro-
duce trufles, which are noted for their aromatic qualities. Lefevre
and his wife, Leslie Scott, also founded the annual Oregon Trufle
Festival to promote native varieties of the fungus.
Charles Lefevre
Occupation: Founder of New
World Trufieres, which inoc-
ulates trees with the fungus
that produces trufles
Age: 50
Hometown: Eugene, Ore.
Education: Bachelor of
science in biology from the
University of Oregon in 1990,
Ph.D. in mycology from Ore-
gon State University in 2002
Family: Wife, Leslie Scott,
and two dogs
Trufles prefer well-drained,
rocky soils, but Lefevre’s irst
customer planted inoculated trees
in an area with a high seasonal
water table.
“In spite of that, they’re get-
ting good production,” he said,
adding that several productive
orchards currently exist in the
Northwest.
Lefevre produces inoculated
trees at three nurseries in Oregon
and one in Florida, though he
doesn’t divulge their exact loca-
tions to protect his company’s
proprietary technology.
New World Trufieres, as the
irm is called, is working with
nine species of trufle that colo-
nize oak, Douglas ir, hazelnut
and pecan trees.
Historically found in the
wild, trufles were irst grown
in orchards of inoculated trees in
France in 1977. The method was
replicated in California a decade
later.
“It proved the concept trufles
could be grown elsewhere in the
world,” Lefevre said.
The trufle orchard industry
is still new and will likely follow
the trajectory of the U.S. wine
industry, he said, noting that the
irst vineyards were planted in
California 150 years ago.
“It’s not going to be over-
night,” Lefevre said.
Aside from producing truf-
le-inoculated trees, Lefevre and
his wife, Leslie Scott, launched
the annual Oregon Trufle Festi-
val a decade ago to promote na-
tive varieties of the fungus.
Trufles that are indigenous
to Oregon’s forests have often
been considered inferior to Euro-
pean species, or a less expensive
alternative to the real thing, but
Lefevre has found they are just
as aromatic if harvested correctly.
The practice of raking be-
neath trees is common among
commercial trufle hunters, but
this often yields trufles that are
unripe, he said.
Specially trained dogs, on
the other hand, ind trufles that
are ready for harvest, offering a
measure of quality control, Lefe-
vre said. “If it doesn’t smell, they
don’t ind it.”
This story irst appeared Dec.
25, 2015.
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