Cultivation of truffles in managed orchards has become an important agricultural alternative in rural Mediterranean regions. The declines of wild Tuber melanosporum throughout its natural range, its high market value and the development of nursery and cultivation techniques have encouraged its successful cultivation during the last several decades. We present here the state of the art of black truffle cultivation, habitat requirements of the fungus, cultivation techniques and descriptions of the mycorrhizae of four important Tuber species. Additionally we provide recent research findings with special implications for truffle cultivation and a brief review of truffle culinary products. In the last section we address the developing Truffle Sector in Southwest Turkey.

This project is co-funded by the European Union and the Republic of Turkey