Akahatsu
Akahatsu, Lactarius akahatsu, is a wild milkcap of East Asian pine and mixed forests that is sold in Yunnan markets, with its edibility and identity still needing species-level review.
Mushrooms
Asian black truffle relative
Tuber pseudohimalayense is a wild black truffle from Yunnan, China, listed as edible in a Chinese species catalogue. No independent assessment of its culinary use or safety is available.
Overview
Tuber pseudohimalayense is a black truffle of the genus Tuber. It was described from a specimen imported from China and supplied by a truffle trade company in Spain. Chinese sources treat it as a commercially important wild truffle, and one account calls it the mother truffle of Chinese black truffles, meaning a species with high commercial value and output.
Taxonomy
Its ascomata look very similar to those of Tuber indicum, Tuber himalayense and Tuber sinense. A 2010 PLoS ONE study of 131 specimens of the Tuber indicum complex treated Tuber pseudohimalayense and Tuber pseudoexcavatum as one species. Other names in the Asian black-truffle group remain debated, so the name on a label should be checked. The epithet "Himalayan" reflects resemblance to Tuber indicum; the sources place the collected material in Yunnan.
Habitat and harvest
Collected material came from Pinus yunnanensis forests in Fumin County, Yunnan. The harvest season reported in the sources runs from October to December. Little is known about its mycorrhizal ecology, and the species is not yet cultivated in orchards.
Food use and composition
A Chinese species catalogue lists it as edible or as edible and medicinal; the catalogue entry does not describe a culinary tradition. In a comparison of three Chinese Tuber species, this one had the highest polyunsaturated fatty acid content, and its methanol extract had strong radical-scavenging activity and the highest total phenol content of the three.
Safety
The catalogue treats the edible listing as a research lead rather than a safety assessment. The sources reviewed do not address toxicity or safe preparation. This page does not give identification or eating advice for wild truffles.
Sources for this section
Places
Yunnan
Documented use · Region evidenceCollected in Yunnan; the sources give Fumin County as the collection site.
Related
More from Yunnan
Amanita subhemibapha
A wild Amanita of China, first reported there and listed as edible in a Yunnan ethnomycology study. The genus contains deadly species, so this page does not support identifying or eating it.
Armillaria bruneocystidia
A wood-associated Armillaria recorded in Yunnan and Sichuan, China, and listed as edible in a 2026 Chinese catalogue.
Asian hedgehog mushroom
Hydnum berkeleyanum is a toothed, ectomycorrhizal forest fungus sold in food markets in Yunnan, China. Its regional identification is published, but its current name and local safety still need species-level review.
Auricularia thailandica (red ear mushroom)
Auricularia thailandica is a thin, gelatinous wood ear described from Southeast Asian collections. Research reports it edible and experimentally cultivable, but species-specific recipes and everyday handling guidance are scarce.
Boletellus indistinctus
A 2023 Chinese taxonomic treatment accepts Boletellus indistinctus as a species. A separate Yunnan market record uses this name, but its specimen identification and local food safety have not been confirmed here.
Boletus botryoides
Boletus botryoides, the grape-coloured bolete, is a porcini-like wild bolete of central and south-western China. It is listed as edible in Chinese catalogues, but no dish or preparation is documented for it.
Boletus shiyong
B. shiyong is a Yunnan bolete identified in a 2014 study of dried Chinese porcini sold commercially; a 2018 review also reports local collection and consumption, but neither gives a species-specific preparation or safety assessment.
Community
No community contributions have been published for this entry yet.
Share what you made
Sign in to contribute. Published comments and photos are free to read.
Sources
CAST journalIngredient · Food use
Chinese species catalogue entry for Tuber pseudohimalayenseListed as edible or edible and medicinal in the Chinese species catalogue.
Cited in: Food use and composition; Safety
Journal of FungiIdentification · Habitat
Three New Truffle Species (Tuber, Tuberaceae, Pezizales, and Ascomycota) from Yunnan, China, and Multigen Phylogenetic Arrangement within the Melanosporum GroupCollected from Pinus yunnanensis forest in Fumin County, Yunnan, October to December.
Cited in: Overview; Taxonomy; Habitat and harvest
PLoS ONETaxonomy
Species Recognition and Cryptic Species in the Tuber indicum ComplexStudy of 131 specimens; T. pseudohimalayense and T. pseudoexcavatum treated as one species.
Cited in: Overview; Taxonomy
AMB Express / PubMed CentralComposition
Nutritional value, chemical composition and antioxidant activity of three Tuber species from ChinaHighest polyunsaturated fatty acid content and highest total phenols among three Chinese Tuber species.
Cited in: Food use and composition