Tuber, Truffles

Earth Balls, Tubera Terra
Kamat (Avicenna)
Picture Tubera
Dioscorides Materia Medica
Picture Tubera
Kreutterbuch, Matthiolus, 1586

Picture Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum, 1640

Picture Tuber macrosporum
(Photo by Nicolò Oppicelli) (Wikimedia)


Botanical name:


Tuber spp.
A number of species are used:
  1. T. cibarium–Common Truffle
  2. T. moschatum–Musky Truffle
  3. T. griseum–Grey Truffle
  4. T. album, T. magnatum–White Truffle
  5. T. cervinum–Deer Truffle, Bastard Truffle
  6. T. solidum–Hard Truffle
  7. T. aestivum–Summer Truffle
  8. T. melanosporum–Black Truffle, Perlgord Truffle, Royal Black Truffle
  9. T. macrosporum–Smooth Black Truffle
On the market, typically Black, White and Violet types are differentiated.
T. indicum has also been used
Desert Truffles from Terfezia and Tirmania species are used similarly in the Mid East.

Parts used:


Dried Fungus
“Best kind of truffle is white and of sandy colour with an agreeable smell. The dry one is comparatively inferior to the moist” (Avicenna)

Temperature & Taste:


Neutral. Pungent, Sweet, Aromatic

Uses:


1. Benefits the Kidneys:
-Aphrodisiac; Impotence; increases Semen
-as an aid in Menopause
-regarded as Anti-aging
-helps control Blood Sugar

2. Strengthens Spleen, Clears Damp:
-weakness, fatigue, immunodeficiency
-Tumors, Cancer

3. Nourishes the Heart, Settles Wind:
-Hypertension
-lowers Cholesterol
-nourishes the Heart and calms the Mind and Spirit (similar to Ling Zhi)
-the decoction was said to benefit the Eyesight. (Avicenna)

4. Resists Poison:
-Poison
-Venomous Bites
-Hepatoprotective

5. Increases Milk:
-promotes Milk production and enriches Milk

6. Externally:
-powders is applied to Running Sores
-Trachoma and eye infections


Dose:


Powder: 2–5 grams

Correctives:


1. Pepper, Salt, Vinegar and Oil are taken with Truffles to facilitate digestion and hinder formation of Wind.
2. Wine and Condiments are its antidotes (Avicenna)

Main Combinations:


1. Hypertension and High Cholesterol, Pu erh tea with Truffle and Burdock root
2. Nourish the Heart, calm the mind and spirit (as a sedative):
i. Truffle and Ganoderma Ling Zhi
ii. Truffle with Ziziphus semen Suan Zao Ren, Salvia Dan Shen
3. Cardiovascular disease:
i. Truffle with Black Bean and Ganoderma Ling Zhi
4. Increase Immunity:
i. Truffle with Black Bean and Ganoderma Ling Zhi
ii. Truffle with Astralaguis and Ganoderma Ling Zhi
5. Increase Growth and Strength:
i. Truffle and Maca
ii. Truffle and Ginseng
iii. Truffle and Maca with Emblic Myrobalan

Major Formulas:



Cautions:


None noted. Avoid very large quantities.
“Slow to digest, harmful, causes heaviness in the stomach and produces thick chyme. Galen has, however, mentioned at some other place that it does not produce harmful chyme”. (Avicenna)

Main Preparations used:



Research:

1. Mushrooms and Truffles: Historical Biofactories for Complementary Medicine in Africa and in the Middle East
2. Black Truffles: The Other Magic Mushroom?