Partnership
NEWS
Prof. Paul Thomas (our Managing Director) has appeared on several TV programmes, radio shows and in many written articles. Specific areas of expertise include the biology, cultivation, hunting and cooking methods of the wide range of truffle species. If you would like an interview or require information for an article then please use our contact form and we would be very happy to help.
Below, our most recent news articles are displayed and our back-catalogue is open for browsing.
November 5, 2017
Farm Business Innovation Show – 8th & 9th November 2017 – Birmingham NEC This week we’ll be returning to Birmingham’s NEC for the Farm Business Innovation show. Following on from last year’s success Dr Paul Thomas will be delivering a seminar on both days of the show. Dr Thomas will be discussing the breakthrough we’ve had in cultivating the first black Perigord truffle in the UK, it’s the first time this has been done north of central France. The seminar will also cover truffle basics, truffle cultivation and the ‘business’ of truffles and due to the popularity we would recommend arriving as early as possible if you’d like to be seated.
September 7, 2017
We’re attending this year’s Confor Woodland Show in Longleat on both the 7th and 8th of September 2017. Our stand has moved position and differs from what is in the show guide and you can now find us at stand A2 – right near the entrance.
June 5, 2017
Is there really truffle in truffle oil? Are preserved truffles any good? Recently we were asked to help investigate a possible case of food fraud for BBC 1 Rip Off Britain. Aired on the 5th of June 2017, the programme revolves around a jar of truffles preserved with oil that had a surprisingly odd aroma. The Rip Off Britain team sought Dr Paul Thomas’ help to test for truffle spores and truffle DNA.
March 13, 2017
The winter truffle season is coming to a close and we’re busy finishing our DNA testing on truffles that have been sent in. Shipments of the winter truffle (Tuber melanosporum) are sometimes contaminated with inferior asiatic species. At Mycorrhizal Systems we ensure that all truffles involved in the cultivation process are exactly what we expect them to be, which is why, unlike other suppliers, we can 100% guarantee our truffle trees are correctly inoculated and uncontaminated.
February 18, 2017
Following on from Sebastian Kraves’ TED talk that focused on the miniPCR DNA Discovery System that his team had developed and featuring how this technology was utilised by Dr Paul Thomas in our truffle cultivation processes, TED have featured Dr Thomas’ work in this area in their Ideas blog. The article delves deeper into how technology is enabling Mycorrhizal Systems to remain at the forefront of truffle cultivation technology.
February 2, 2017
Late last year Dr Paul Thomas attend the 8th International Workshop on Edible Mycorrhizal Mushrooms (IWEMM8) in France and presented his findings from a study into the effect of flooding on the survival of the Summer Truffle (Tuber aestivum syn. uncinatum). The full report is yet to be published but the abstract to the study is available. If you would like to be notified when the full research paper is available then please subscribe to our newsletter by entering your email address on the form on our Home page.
January 18, 2017
In the Farmers Weekly Christmas special edition Isabel Davies interviewed Dr Thomas and a current plantation owner, who is on track to start commercially harvesting this upcoming season, about the suitability of truffles as a crop for farm diversification. Truffles was one of four crops featured by Farmers Weekly as having great potential for diversification on UK and Irish farms.
December 11, 2016
In May, Sebastian Kraves, a molecular neurobiologist, was invited to give a TED Talk about the miniPCR DNA Discovery System that his team had developed. During his talk Sebastian discusses how Dr Paul Thomas has utilised this DNA coding technology to ensure that the truffle spores we work with are the genuine truffle species we require. This scientific approach to truffle cultivation is what makes Mycorrhizal Systems technological leaders in truffle culivation.
December 10, 2016
In November The New York Times ran a feature on our sister company, the Amercian Truffle Company and reported how Dr Thomas is influencing the American truffle industry.
