This Can’t Be the Reason We Love Truffles, Can It? Chromatography Investigates

Black truffles have long been a much sought-after delicacy. Their rarity and unique aroma mean that they retail at a very high price – anywhere up to £200 per 100g – but despite this, they don’t taste all that good. Surely a heady bouquet can’t be the only reason they’re in such high demand? Well, thanks to the wonders of liquid chromatography, we may have an alternative answer to shed light on the conundrum.

THC-Laden Truffles

Scientists headed by Mauro Maccarrone at the Campus Bio-Medico University in Rome have conducted a study which has found evidence of THC-type properties in black truffles. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is most commonly found in cannabis and is thought to be responsible for its mood-enhancing and mind-altering effects.

Though the substance found in truffles is not exactly THC, it shares certain characteristics. In the latter stages of their development, truffles have been demonstrated to produce a compound called anandamide, which takes its name from the Sanskrit word for “bliss” or “delight”. Unsurprisingly, then, this compound is responsible for releasing certain mood-enhancing chemicals in the brain, which has led to it gaining the nickname “the bliss molecule”.

Maccarrone and his team have also found that truffles themselves do not have any use for the molecule, since they do not possess the necessary receptors which would allow it to bind to. Instead, they produce it simply to attract passing animals, such as pigs and dogs, who dig the truffles up, ingest them and excrete them, allowing them to spread their spores and multiply.

Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) Explores

Using the technique of LC-MS at various stages of the truffle’s maturation cycle, the team were able to determine that it only begins to produce the compound in the latter stages of its development; i.e. when it is ready to be consumed and propagated by a host animal.

This fascinating use of chromatography is not the first time that it has been utilised to detect the presence of substances similar to THC, though normally it is not used in such an innocent capacity. Chromatography has long been employed to detect the presence of performance-enhancing drugs in the bodies of athletes or of intoxicants in professional individuals.

For example, this story, US Sprinter Fails Doping Test, discusses a high-profile case from 2010, when Ivory Williams was given a three-month suspension for showing traces of Carboxy THC in his bloodstream. The sentence was more lenient than standard drug bans because cannabinoids such as THC are not deemed to be as performance-enhancing as many other pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, in the field of health and safety, a new high performance gold standard toxicology lab which uses chromatography techniques was opened in late 2013 in southern Australia. This helped to eliminate long delays on sample testing while blood samples were in transit from the mines where they were taken to the nearest lab in Victoria. Ensuring that such substances are not present in those working in the mining industry is essential for obvious safety reasons, and the cutting down on lengthy wait times may have helped to save lives since its inception.

As for the truffles – at long last we have a scientific answer as to why the foul-tasting fungi are so popular and so expensive. Thanks chromatography!  

Image Source: Truffles