Page:Foods and their adulteration; origin, manufacture, and composition of food products; description of common adulterations, food standards, and national food laws and regulations (IA foodstheiradulte02wile).pdf/492

 taste would soon adapt itself to an amber- or brown-colored product in canned mushrooms and value it as highly as the buttons which are white. Since the sole purpose of the use of sulfur is for bleaching, the end secured scarcely justifies the means. It is claimed, naturally, that the use of sulfur is also a safeguard in securing a better keeping of the product, but such an adjunct for keeping purposes is only necessary when the sterilization is not complete. It is to be hoped that the day will soon come when mushrooms bleached with sulfurous acid shall no longer be found upon our market. The use of other preservatives than sulfurous acid has at times been practiced, but it is not believed that there are many cans of mushrooms offered upon the market which contain any chemical preservatives whatever save the sulfurous acid above noted. Since the canned mushrooms are valued principally as a condiment, the inclusion of imperfect or partially decayed or malformed buttons is extremely unusual. The buttons are separated into sizes of approximately the same magnitude, so that a can of the product is uniform in size as well as in quality. The customer may be reasonably certain that he is getting a good, young, carefully selected product, free from disease and from accidental impurities which might render the product unwholesome or unpalatable.

Truffles.—The truffle has been known almost, if not quite as long as the mushroom as an edible delicacy. The use of truffles in France became very common during the 14th century, but on account of their high price they remained for a long time a luxury and not a general article of commerce. It is only within the 19th century, after 1840, that their consumption became general. The truffle belongs to the botanical family Tuberaceæ.

The propagation of truffles is similar to that of mushrooms, by spores, which first give rise to a mycelium which by further condensation forms the body of the truffle. This mycelium furnishes the nutritients for the tubercle during a certain time of its early growth. In the cultivation of the truffle, artificially, it is necessary to make use of a forest or other similar artificial covering. If trees are planted especially for the development of truffles it requires six or eight years growth before the cultivation of truffles is successful. The truffle grows very readily in the shade of nut-bearing trees and in the shade of the oak. The mycelium does not produce truffles until after several years of vegetation. When it once begins to fructify and produce the truffle it continues to bear for many years. The truffle, like the mushroom, grows rapidly. At first, as has already been stated, it is nourished by the mycelium, but when this is exhausted it is nourished by absorbing the nutritious elements from the soil and air. When it reaches maturity and its spores are well formed the truffle acquires its maximum of aroma and palatability. After it has reached maturity it can remain a certain time in the soil without being changed. However, after a time it is rapidly decomposed and its tissues become the seat of various chemical reactions or it is devoured by insects.