Rapid MALDI-TOF MS identification of commercial truffles

Truffles are edible mushrooms with similar morphological characteristics, that make it difficult to distinguish between highly prized truffles (such as the Perigord black T. melanosporum) and inexpensive truffles (such as the Asian Black T. indicum). These biological and economic features have led to several misidentifications and/or fraudulent profit in the truffle markets. In this paper, we investigate Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) biotyping to identify 34 commercial fresh truffles from Europe and Asia. The MALDI-TOF MS clustering rapidly distinguished seven Tuber species identified by ITS phylogenetic analysis. The tasty T. melanosporum was clearly differentiated from the Chinese and less expensive truffles. These cheaper mushrooms were marketed as T. indicum but corresponded to a mix of three species. In total, the method confirmed misidentifications in 26% of commercial specimens. Several unknown blind-coded truffles were rapidly identified, with scores >=2, using the Bruker Biotyper algorithm against MS databases. This study demonstrates that MALDI-TOF MS is a reliable, rapid and cheaper new tool compared with molecular methods for the identification of truffle species and could be used to control frauds in the truffle markets. It could also be useful for the certification of truffle-inoculated seedlings and/or diversity in forest ecosystems.