Pedro Marco

• PhD in Food Quality, Safety and Technology
• Head Researcher at Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon

Black truffle, Tuber melanosporum Vittad., production is increasing due to an improvement in cultivation management and to the demand for this highly appreciated fungus. However, this intensification of truffle cultivation has led to the appearance of problems related to pest incidence. Specifically, the truffle beetle, Leiodes cinnamomeus (Panzer,...

The visual authentication of high-value truffles (Tuber magnatum and Tuber melanosporum) is challenging, as they share similar morphological characteristics with other truffle species that have a lower economic value. This similarity complicates accurate identification and increases the risk of substitution or mislabeling, which can affect both mar...

This dataset includes counts of truffle beetles from four growing seasons in a truffle orchard of Northeast Spain. Moreover, data on sex ratio and damages to truffle bodies are included. Finally, weather variables for the four seasons are included.

The aroma is critical in the reproductive biology of truffles and in their commercial quality. However, previous research has almost exclusively focused on characterizing ripe ascocarps. We characterized the volatilome of the highly-prized black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) ascocarps from July, in an early development stage, to March, in the late h...

BACKGROUND Truffle cultivation is evolving rapidly and new agronomic practices such as ‘truffle nests’ (localized peat amendments of the orchard soil) are being developed. Truffle nests improve the shape of truffles and their depth in the soil and reduce the occurrence of insect damage but have also raised concerns about their impact on the ripenes...

The organoleptic and bioactive properties of truffles place these fungi as interesting materials for use in the of design functional foods based on fruiting bodies outside commercial standards. Moreover, kombucha beverages have become more popular in the Western world, leading to novel drinks using alternative substrates instead of tea leaves. In t...

Nowadays, the truffle aroma attribute is not included as a quality parameter in the current recommendation that explains the truffle quality (UNECE standard 53 FFV3) and establishes the truffle commercial categories. However, the aroma is the main reason why truffles are worldwide appreciated. Indeed, more than 30 aromatic molecules compose it, and...

Truffle growers devote great efforts to improve black truffle productivity, developing agronomic practices such as 'truffle nests' (peat amendments that are supplemented with truffle spore inoculum). It has been hypothesized that improved fruiting associated with nests is linked to stimulation of truffle mycelia previously established in soil or to...

An optimized PLE method was applied to several truffle species using three different solvent mixtures to obtain bioactive enriched fractions. The pressurized water extracts contained mainly (1 → 3),(1 → 6)-β-D-glucans, chitins, and heteropolymers with galactose and mannose in their structures. The ethanol extracts included fatty acids and fungal st...

Nowadays black truffles are so highly valued that truffled products are available in supermarkets whereas fresh truffle is mainly used in the restaurants. It is known that truffle aroma can change because heat treatments, but there is no scientific evidence about what molecules are transferred, in which concentration, and how much time is needed to...

Truffles are highly valued by their aromatic properties and can aromatize food products. However, the truffle aroma could be reduced or lost with heat treatments (pasteurization and sterilization) necessary for products security and safety. In this study, sunflower oil and honey were aromatized with black truffle (lyophilized and fresh) using two d...

A supercritical fluid extraction methodology was used to extract flavoring and bioactive compounds from truffles. Some parameters such as CO2 flow rate (1-3 mg/mL), extraction time (15-90 min) and different trapping food matrices (grape seed oil, gelatin, agar agar and water) were optimized using response surface methodology to enhance extraction a...

Sustainable agriculture has drawn attention to the maintenance and enhancement of soil health. However, research on soil quality has been carried out mainly in field crops and, to a lesser extent, in mature orchards, neglecting the relevance of assessing the soil quality status in the first years of tree plantations. Therefore, the aim of this stud...

The price of the truffle species Tuber melanosporum and Tuber magnatum can be up to fifty times higher, or even more, than the cheapest edible truffle species due to their appreciated aroma and low production levels. This aroma is seriously affected after the application of treatments for the conservation of food products, usually thermal (freezing...

A PLE (pressurized liquid extraction) method was adjusted following a full-factorial experimental design to obtain bioactive-enriched fractions from Tuber aestivum and Terfezia claveryi. Temperature, time and solvent (water, ethanol and ethanol–water 1:1) parameters were investigated. The response variables investigated were: obtained yield and the...

Científicos y tecnólogos de los alimentos deben avanzar e innovar en el desarrollo de procesos y productos que garanticen la salud del consumidor y la competitividad del sector agroalimentario. Sin embargo, este progreso requiere de recursos humanos especializados y de los avances en el conocimiento que aporta la investigación. Es por ello que desd...

Truffles are a well-known worldwide product mainly appreciated by their unique aroma, which is composed by more than 50 volatile compounds. However, to this day, no one has accomplished to find the aromatic key that evokes the real aroma of truffles for its use as food flavoring. Among them, black truffle was selected for extraction with supercriti...

The effects of biochar on soil–plant–microorganisms systems are currently being extensively investigated. Considering that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play an essential role in nutrient dynamics, the present study aims at understanding vine shoot-derived biochar effects on AMF activity and the impact of their multiplication in soils on water...

The highly prized black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) has become a model species for ectomycorrhizal fungi biology. However, several questions concerning its reproductive phase remain unanswered. To provide new hypotheses on the fruitbody formation process, we have explored the causal links among development characters of black truffle fruitbodies t...

Ten truffle species of Tuber and Terfezia genera were chemical characterized, assessing their proximate composition, individual nutrient compounds and some bioactive molecules. The bioactive properties of these species were also evaluated, namely their antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic potential. Carbohydrates were the main macronutrients pr...

The cultivation of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Tuber melanosporum has considerably spread in recent years throughout the world. During the first years of truffle cultivation, weed control is a key practice to improve the establishment of host trees and the proliferation of the fungus in the soil. Glyphosate is nowadays the most commonly used herbici...

Media can play a key role in shaping public opinion and setting a policy agenda by conveying and influencing public discourse. This article evaluates how the Spanish media has covered the topic of the forest bioeconomy and what kind of discourse it has produced and reproduced around it. For this purpose, we analysed the content of 204 national and...

The effects of gamma irradiation (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.5 kGy doses) on Tuber aestivum packaged under modified atmosphere was evaluated. The respiration rate, microbial populations, sensory characteristics and content of bioactive compounds (total carbohydrates, chitins, β-glucans, proteins, total phenols and sterols) were monitored from immediately...

Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) is a fungus that attracts the attention of consumers and researchers due to its flavour and bioactive compounds with biological activities. However, it swiftly loses quality because of its short shelf life. The present work evaluated the shelf life of cultivated shiitake carpophores with a weekly monitoring of the physic...

Non-wood forest products (NWFPs) are gaining in importance and recognition in recent decades, both in the EU and in Spain, mainly due to the relevance they may have for rural development as generators of employment and as ecological products with a high added value. Currently, the basic information on each of the products is atomized, it is difficu...

In Tuber melanosporum cultivation, fruitbody traits are gaining relevance due to their increasing prominence on prices. We investigated the edaphic and temporal patterns of fruitbody traits and characterised the effect of truffle nests (localised peat-based amendment supplemented with T. melanosporum spores) on traits. We monitored fruitbody traits...

Black truffle is characterized by a black ascocarp and white veins. This hypogeous fruit body is known for its aroma. Understanding metabolic variation during ripening can shed light on truffle biology. In this work, the comprehensive polar metabolome and the volatile organic compounds of T. melanosporum were studied at different ripening stages by...

Truffles, besides the appreciated aromatic compounds, contain other molecules with interesting bioactive properties. A screening of fungal sterols and β-glucans within different truffle species and locations was carried out. These compounds were extracted with pressurized liquids (PLE) generating enriched fractions. Extraction efficiency was studie...

Application of biochar from vine shoots (Vitis vinifera L.) as an organic amendment in the soil is an alternative agricultural management of interest. The behavior of this type of amendment in the soil requires more information to adjust the pyrolysis conditions in order to obtain a high-quality biochar. The aim of this work is determining the infl...

Sphaerosporella brunnea is a pioneer ectomycorrhizal fungus with facul-tative saprophytic capacities. Here, we sequenced the genome of S. brunnea strain Sb_GMNB300, which is estimated at 51.6 Mb in size with 872 assembled contigs accounting for 12,597 predicted coding genes. This genome will be useful for comparative studies of Pezizales ectomycorr...

The effects of electron-beam or gamma irradiation (both applied at 1.5 kGy and 2.5 kGy) and subsequent storage under modified atmospheres (35 d at 4 °C) were evaluated on total carbohydrates, chitins, β-glucans, proteins, total phenols, sterols and ergocalciferol concentrations of Tuber melanosporum ascocarps. Irradiation procedures reduced chitin...

Black truffle is a highly appreciated edible fungus that grows wild in southwestern Europe, although its cultivation has recently spread to other continents. In Spain the widespread exploitation of wild truffles began only after 1950, whereas plantations play a relevant role in truffle production from the late 1990s. However, most plantations conti...

The European black truffle is a mycorrhizal fungus native to Spanish Mediterranean forests. In most Spanish regions it was originally commercially harvested in the second half of the 20th century. Experts agree that wild truffle yields suffered a sharp decline during the 1970s and 1980s. However, official statistics for Spanish harvest are scarce a...

This work examines whether the host tree influences the aroma of Tuber melanosporum truffles. Samples were gathered in the same place (Teruel, Spain) and on the same day from four host trees: hazel, Portuguese oak, kermes oak and holm oak. The truffles were subjected to sensory and chemical analysis. The sensory analysis comprised two stages. The f...

Changes in the aroma composition of truffles (Tuber aestivum and Tuber melanosporum) after electron-beam and gamma irradiation at doses of 1.5kGy and 2.5kGy were investigated by solid phase microextraction methodology (HS-SPME). In particular, the effect was evaluated on specific compounds chosen for their aromatic importance according to previousl...

The effects of electron-beam or gamma irradiation (doses of 1.5 kGy and 2.5 kGy of either one) on the microbial populations, respiratory activity and sensory characteristics of Tuber melanosporum packaged under modified atmospheres were monitored immediately after treatment, and subsequently every seven days during 35 days of storage at 4 °C. Treat...

The effects of two doses of electron-beam irradiation (1.5 kGy and 2.5 kGy) on the microbial populations (total mesophilic aerobes, Pseudomonas genus, Enterobacteriaceae family, molds and yeasts) and sensory characteristics of Tuber aestivum packaged under modified atmospheres were monitored immediately after treatment, and weekly during 42 days of...