The harvest of the world’s most expensive mushroom known as truffle – the fruiting body of a subterranean Ascomycete fungus – has started in Meshginshahr in northwestern Ardebil Province, director of the city’s Agricultural Jihad Organization has announced, as reported by Mehr news agency. Truffle is an edible wild mushroom species which grows 30 centimeters below the ground. It grows widely in Meshginshahr due to its ideal climate. “It is expected that locals will collect and pack 200 metric tons of the product in the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21),” Ahmad Shahriar noted. Part of the city’s annual production of truffle is currently exported to central Asian countries. Europe too is interested in using the product for medical purposes, said the official.
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