Mineral composition of soil and wild desert truffies in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Two hypogeous truffles and subsurface and surface soil samples were collected from Hafer Al-Batin area, North-Eastern region of Saudi Arabia. The truffles are identified as Terfezia claveryi and Phaeangium lefebveri. Laboratory study of the mineral composition of soil and identified truffles revealed the following: soil samples contained higher levels of calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganes, sodium lead and zinc than the tested truffles. The soil reaction in the vicinity of truffles ranged from the mildly alkaline (surface) to moderately alkaline (subsurface). Both organic matter and moisture contents are higher for the subsurface than for the surface samples.