The research activity on the Campanian truffle is intensifying, developed by the Southern Apennines Observatory in synergy with the Department of Agriculture of the Campania Region.
An innovative management software for the mushroom and truffle sector, developed by an engineer, was presented to an audience of experts, trade associations and "diggers".
Giuseppe La Rocca, an expert selected by the Observatory at the request of the Campania Region: a web platform where users can register and authenticate through digital identity, allowing constant communication between the central bodies and the territories, systematizing the entire sector and also favoring control activities by law enforcement agencies.
During the Conference, the results of a research commissioned by the Campania Region to the Observatory on the aromatic analysis of the truffle were also presented, using the electronic nose.
For nine years, the Observatory has been committed to enhancing the Campanian truffle. Here we present two different projects, both focused on the management and enhancement of the truffle sector. The first activity consists in the creation of a management software for the mushroom and truffle sector, a tool that allows rationalizing the sector, important for the Region and for the whole world interested in these forest products - says Prof. Mariagiovanna Riitano, President of the Southern Apennines Observatory - An ambitious project, which will allow obtaining analytical data to compare, even previous ones. We are currently engaged in the dissemination phase of the Software aimed at mushroom and truffle collectors, the first direct interested parties. We also present a project that marks a further step forward in the study of the sensory profile of the truffle. This is an experiment carried out by Prof. Alessandro Genovese of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Naples 'Federico II', who studied the aroma of two Campanian truffles Tuber Mesentericum or Black Truffle of Bagnoli and Tuber Borchii or Bianchetto, using the electronic nose, a tool that emulates human smell.
Dr. Addolorata Ruocco, Director of the Environment, Forest and Climate Sector of the Department of Agriculture of the Campania Region also spoke at the Conference: "Collaboration with the Southern Apennines Observatory has been fundamental for achieving the digitization objectives that the region sets itself - says Dr. Ruocco - The web platform on the mushroom and truffle sector will allow to achieve those technological innovation objectives that the Public Administration is called to implement. The software has enormous development potential from an application point of view: the judicial authority will be able to carry out checks thanks to dedicated APPs. A project to protect ecosystem services that falls within the national strategy for forests, especially in inland areas. Mushrooms and truffles represent the wealth of biodiversity of our territories".
Dr. Luca Branca, Official of the Campania Region, stresses that "thanks to the Observatory, a collaboration with the Universities of Salerno and Naples has been activated to deepen the aromatic profile of our truffles, defining the specific fingerprints of the Tuber Mesentericum and the Bianchetto of the coastal bands".
He also adds that "the portal created by Eng. Giuseppe La Rocca constitutes an important step forward in the rationalization of the mushroom and truffle sector at regional level and will allow to create an interface with collectors and not only".
Giuseppe La Rocca, Sole Administrator Congenius Software Engineering, states that the software consists of an information system that connects the entire regional territory, without excluding the beneficiaries of the authorizations for the collection of mushrooms and truffles and connecting central, regional and provincial offices with Mountain Communities.
"The database will interface, through a web application, with users, facilitated in the annual renewal or in the request for authorizations and badges. A QR Code dedicated to the control bodies of the territory will be generated. Payments will also be online. It is a system that looks to the future, it is a tool of security, control and information, easy to use".
Prof. Alessandro Genovese, professor of Agriculture at the University of Naples 'Federico II', speaks about the aromatic profile of truffles: "The electronic nose is an instrument that tries to emulate the human sense of smell. It is a very quick method in the first screening, to verify if the truffles of Campania present different aromatic characteristics. To know, instead, which are the molecules that determine the differences both from a qualitative and quantitative point of view, we have applied a much more complex technique which is gas chromatography".