ABSTRACT Tuber floridanum is the first truffle species reported in Brazil and little is known about its nutritional properties and ecology. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) determine T. floridanum aroma and nutritional properties and (2) analyze cultivation and fruiting conditions, including potential crop pests and market value. Fruiting bodies of T. floridanum showed a slightly ellipsoid shape and smooth to shallow groovy surface. The mass of ascocarps ranged from 0.13 g to 15.95 g, and the truffle was composed of 71 % carbohydrates, 19 % protein, 5 % ash, and 5 % of fat. Octan-3-one, 1-methoxy-3-methyl-butane, and 1-methoxy-2-methyl-butane determined T. floridanum characteristic aroma. Soil properties were also specific for this truffle, differing from optimal soils where commercial truffles are produced. In addition, the occurrence of earwigs (Anisolabididae, Anisolabidinae) feeding on truffles (26 % of all ascocarps) in pecan orchards may reduce truffle quality and cause financial losses. T. floridanum aroma has a unique composition, completely different from any commercial and non-commercial truffle species analyzed so far. Soil conditions in pecan orchards were also specific for truffle fruiting. Further studies should elucidate other ecological conditions for the co-production of T. floridanum with pecan .

Resumo Os estudos envolvendo a nogueira-pecã têm evoluído consideravelmente nos últimos anos no Brasil. Esta cultura foi introduzida no país no início do século passado e tornou-se importante comercialmente após os anos de 1960, principalmente na região sul. A nogueira-pecã é comprovadamente um simbionte, formando diversas associações mutualísticas com fungos ectomicorrízicos do solo. Assim, a presente revisão tem como objetivos apresentar os estudos sobre os fungos ectomicorrízicos em plantações comerciais de nogueira-pecã no Brasil, destacar a importância agrícola e ambiental desta simbiose, e o potencial da micorrização controlada da nogueira-pecã, visando à produção de espécies desejadas de trufas, notadamente do gênero Tuber, em pomares comerciais, uma atividade econômica de alta rentabilidade.

Abstract Studies involving pecan tree have evolved considerably in recent years in Brazil. Pecans were introduced in the country at the beginning of the last century, and became commercially important after the 1960´s, primarily in the South region. Pecan trees form several ECM associations with mutualistic fungi. Thus, the aims of the present review were to show research data using ECM fungi in commercial pecan orchards in Brazil, present the agricultural and environmental importance of this symbiosis, and show the potential of man-driven mycorrhyzation with pecan, aiming at the production of selected truffles, notably of the genus Tuber, in commercial orchards, a highly profitable economic activity.