Subterranean fungus of the order Tuberales.
Certain species are valued as edible
delicacies, in particular Tuber melanosporum,
native to to the Perigord region of France
and generally found growing under oak trees;
it is rounded, blackish brown, covered with
warts externally, and with blackish flesh.
Dogs and pigs are traditionally used to
discover truffles, but in 1990 an articial
`nose' developed at the University of
Manchester Institute of Science and
Technology, England, proved more effective in
tests in Bordeaux.