The use of truffles in Poland has a long tradition, yet due to some historical aspects, this knowledge was lost. Currently, truffles and truffle orchards are again receiving attention, and thanks to, e.g., historical data, they have solid foundations to be established. Publications relating to truffles between 1661 and 2017 were searched for in international and national databases, such as the database of PhD theses, Google Scholar, and catalogues of the National Library of Poland, the Jagiellonian Digital Library, the University Library of J. Giedroyc in Bialystok and the Lower Silesian Digital Library (DBC). A very meticulous survey of the literature on truffles showed that truffles have been known since at least 1661. In the 18th century, the fungi were considered a non-timber forest product. It is interesting to mention the impact of Polish Count Michał Jan Borch in understanding the nature of truffles. The whitish truffle (Tuber borchii) is named after him. The greatest number of publications regarding truffles can be observed at the first half of the 19th and 20th centuries. The fungi were present not only in cookbooks but also in scientific literature, and aspects of their ecology and medicinal use are considered. The “dark ages” for truffles, mainly for social reasons, occurred after the Second World War. In tough times, when Poland was under Soviet communist control (1945–1989), truffles as a luxurious product have been completely forgotten. However, at the end of the 20th century, truffles started receiving attention in Polish society. Yet, the real awakening began in the first decade of the twenty-first century when the first truffle orchards were established. One of them has already produced the first fruit bodies of summer truffle (Tuber aestivum). Truffles have been present in Polish culture for centuries. Their renaissance indicates the need for fostering sustainable agroforestry-centred initiatives aimed at helping truffle growers in growing the precious fungi and thus meeting market demands.

Summer truffle (Tuber aestivum), also known as Burgundy truffle, is getting interest in Poland in terms of cultivation as a promising incentive for rural areas. Yet the occurrence of the fungus in wider scale in our country has been confirmed in the last decade. Ecological factors that determine the occurrence of T. aestivum are rather well known in the Mediterranean region, whereas such knowledge is limited in northern Europe. The aim of this work was to find the correlations between essential nutrients in surface horizons of soils typical of truffle occurrence. The study area is situated in the Nida Basin in southern Poland. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that active carbonate content is the variable that accounts for the greatest percentage of occupancy in the T. aestivum habitat. In this paper we propose that active carbonate is a major factor in the fruiting of summer truffle. The obtained results could have applications in natural harvesting and truffle culture.

The Burgundy truffle (Tuber aestivum Vittad.) has a wide-ranging distribution across Europe, yet its ecology is far from being well understood. For instance, although the literature on the ecophysiology of this species is dominated by the symbiosis with deciduous hosts, the real range of hosts in nature seems to be much wider than the current distribution of T. aestivum. The aim of this study was to determine the relative importance of abiotic (soil) and biotic (vegetation) properties in determining the performance of T. aestivum in this pioneering stage of research on truffles in Poland. Soil parameters influenced the formation of T. aestivum fruiting bodies more strongly than plant composition. The number of fruiting bodies increased with increasing concentration of soil calcium and phosphorus. The number of plant species was the only significant predictor among the investigated vegetation characteristics. The influence of this predictor was positive, as an increasing number of fruiting bodies was found when the number of plant species was higher. The presence of truffle fruiting bodies was significantly correlated with the presence of five plant species, viz.: Brachypodium sylvaticum, Cephalanthera damasonium, Cornus sanguinea, Sanicula europaea and Viola mirabilis.

The aim of this study was to enable searches for truffles (Tuber spp.), particularly the Burgundy truffle (T. aestivum Vittad.), to be carried out in forests based on a method that has been constantly developed since 2007 by the Forest Research Institute. The method is termed “Virtual Truffle Hunting” and it takes 12 parameters into account: bedrock, soil pH, Ca+ and CaCO₃ content in soil, C/N ratio, soil structure, altitude of terrain, type of forest site, forest structure, the Burgundy truffle host trees, and the presence of particular species including orchids and insects. A simple “Virtual Truffle Hunting” software has also been developed, which makes the use of the method easy, fast, and effective. This method is to ascertain the truffle potential for all areas in which digital maps are not available. In 2015, the method was tested in 20 sites, representing forests in 5 Polish macroregions. Hunting for hypogeous fungi was conducted from June to October with the help of trained dogs. Thanks to this method, 14 new truffle sites were found. The knowledge of environmental conditions conducive to the Burgundy truffle growth enabled us to form an effective tool in order to identify new sites of truffle presence.

While the use of truffles in Poland has a long tradition, for historical reasons this knowledge was almost lost. Currently, truffles and truffle orchards are again receiving public attention. For example, the Polish State Forests supported the establishment of truffle orchards by the Forestry Research Institute. In recent years, knowledge concerning these unique hypogeous fungi has been disseminated systematically through scientific and popular publications, films, and electronic media. This study investigates the awareness of economically and culinary valued truffle fungi (Tuber spp.) among more than 1400 Polish foresters. The results show that 70% of interviewees were familiar with historical and contemporary information about growing and using truffles in Poland. Based on respondents’ age, education, type of work, and gender we attempted to identify whether these elements were associated with the state of knowledge about truffles. The results indicated that younger foresters were better informed about the presence of truffles in Poland and also about their use in the past in Polish cuisine. Environmental education was an important source of knowledge about truffle harvesting and the soils that are conducive to truffle development. Foresters who have provided forest ecology education and who are 36–65 years of age generally possessed better knowledge about truffles than other age cohorts. More than 30% of respondents expressed interest in educational courses to improve their knowledge of truffles. The results point to the need for forestry education concerning truffles and indicate the need for fostering sustainable agroforestry-centered initiatives disseminating this knowledge to the public.