Tuber itzcuinzapotl: A new species of edible Truffle from Mexico.

Truffles, Tuber spp., are Ascomycote Fungi which from ectomycorrhizal relationships with a range of forest Plants, including Pines, Oaks, Hickories, and Orchids. They are distinguished for their large, tuber-like ascomata (fruiting bodies), which are formed underground, which often have highly distinctive aromas and flavours, leading to some species being traded as high-value gourmet items.

There are currently 25 species of Truffle known from Mexico, mostly from the temperate forests of the north and the mountains of the Neovolcanic axis. However, none of these are currently traded as foodstuffs, despite Mexico a globally leading countries in terms of the number of edible wild Fungi consumed, with about 500 species, making it second only China, where about 1000 are consumed. However, recent efforts have found that the non-native Black Truffle, Tuber melanosporum, will form ectomycorrhizal relationships with native Mexican Oaks, and several species found in Mexico are considered to have potential for commercial development, including the Pecan Truffle, Tuber lyonii, which is commercially exploited in the US and Canada, and can trade for up to US$400 per kg.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 26 January 2024, Javier Isaac de la Fuente of the Colegio de Postgraduados at Campus Montecillo, Wendy Rosales-Rosales of the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Zongolica of the Tecnológico Nacional de México, César Romero Martínez-González of the Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Victoria of the Tecnológico Nacional de México, Magdelana Martínez-Reyes, also of the Colegio de Postgraduados at Campus Montecillo, Andrea Carolina Elizondo-Salas, also of the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Zongolica of the Tecnológico Nacional de México, and Jesús Pérez-Moreno, agian of the Colegio de Postgraduados at Campus Montecillo, describe a new species of edible Truffle from the Coniferous mixed forests of eastern Mexico.

The new species is named Tuber itzcuinzapotl, where 'itzcuinzapotl' means 'Dog's Zapote' in the Nahua language (a Zapote is a type of fruit). This Truffle produces subglobose fruiting bodies with a light brown, verrucous-granular outer surface, and an gray or pale brown interior, reaching up to 28 mm by 28 mm in size, with a distinctive fruity taste and smell. It is found growing in association with Mexcan Weeping Pines, Pinus patula, in Veracruz State, Mexico.

Tuber itzcuinzapotl (Holotype). Fresh ascomata fruiting body. De la Fuente et al. (2024).

Mexico has a significant culture of wild Fungus consumption, with over 500 types of Fungi consumed by members of all ethnic groups, and in particular rural communities living close to woodland. However, almost all consumed Fungi are epigeal, i.e, found above the ground, such as Mushrooms, with very little exploitation of subterranean species occurring. This is surprising, as Mexico is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world for Oaks, and Oaks are particularly associated with Fungi producing underground fruiting bodies. 

Tuber itzcuinzapotl is known to be consumed by members of the Nahua ethnic group living in the Sierra de Zongolica region of Veracruz State, Mexico, where it is referred to as 'itzcuinzapotl' (the specific name chosen for the species). Local folklore has it that people began to consume these Fungi after observing Dogs digging them up and eating them. Knowledge of the Fungus appeared to be restricted to older women in the community. Such local knowledge of wild foodstuffs is considered to be at risk in the region as traditional cultures are eroded, leading to loss of knowledge and a reduction and homogenisation in the number of foodstuffs consumed by Humans both in Mexico and globaly.

See also...

Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake in Veracruz State, Mexico.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake at a depth of 109.4 km, roughly 15 km to the northwest of the town of Nopalapan in Veracruz State, Mexico, slightly after 8.40 am local time (slightly after 2.40 pm GMT) on Thursday 3 February 2022. There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, but people have reported feeling it across much of southern Mexico.

 

The approximate location of the 3 February 2022 Veracruzs State Earthquake. USGS.

 

Mexico is located on the southernmost part of the North American Plate. To the south, along the Middle American Trench, which lies off the southern coast off Mexico, the Cocos Plate is being subducted under the North American Plate, passing under southern Mexico as it sinks into the Earth. Guatemala is located on the southern part of the Caribbean Plate, close to its boundary with the Cocos Plate, which underlies part of the east Pacific. The Cocos Plate is being pushed northwards by expansion of the crust along the East Pacific Rise, and is subducted beneath the Caribbean Plate along the Middle American Trench. This is not a smooth process, and the plates frequently stick together then break apart as the pressure builds up, causing Earthquakes on the process. 

 

The position of the Cocos, Nazca and Rivera Plates. MCEER/University at Buffalo.

The Cocos Plate is thought to have formed about 23 million years ago, when the Farallon Plate, an ancient tectonic plate underlying the East Pacific, split in two, forming the Cocos Plate to the north and the Nazca Plate to the south. Then, roughly 10 million years ago, the northwesternmost part of the Cocos Plate split of to form the Rivera Plate, south of Beja California.

 

In a paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, in 2012, a team led by Igor Stubailo of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of California Los Angeles, published a model of the subduction zone beneath Mexico using data from seismic monitoring stations belonging to the Mesoamerican Seismic Experiment, the Network of Autonomously Recording Seismographs, the USArray, Mapping the Rivera Subduction Zone and the Mexican Servicio Sismologico Nacional.

 

The seismic monitoring stations were able to monitor not just Earthquakes in Mexico, but also Earthquakes in other parts of the world, monitoring the rate at which compression waves from these quakes moved through the rocks beneath Mexico, and how the structure of the rocks altered the movement of these waves.

 

Based upon the results from these monitoring stations, Stubailo et al. came to the conclusion that the Cocos Plate was split into two beneath Mexico, and that the two plates are subducting at different angles, one steep and one shallow. Since the rate at which a plate melts reflects its depth within the Earth, the steeper angled plate melts much closer to the subduction zone than the shallower angled plate, splitting the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt into sections above the different segments of the Cocos Plate, and causing it to apparently curve away from the subduction zone.

 

Top the new model of the Cocos Plate beneath Mexico, split into two sections (A & B) subducting at differing angles. (C) Represents the Rivera Plate, subducting at a steeper angle than either section of the Cocos Plate. The Split between the two has been named the Orozco Fracture Zone (OFZ) which is shown extended across the Cocos Plate; in theory this might in future split the Cocos Plate into two segments (though not on any human timescale). Bottom Left, the position of the segments on a map of Mexico. Darker area is the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, orange circles are volcanoes, brown triangles are seismic monitoring stations, yellow stars are major cities. Bottom Right, an alternative model showing the subducting plate twisted but not split. This did not fit the data. Stubailo et al. (2012).

 

See also...

 

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Twitter.