“…This study revealed that T. himalayense , which is widely distributed in Asia [ 30 ], has the greatest growth rate among other Tuber species in the Korean natural environment. However, T. melanosporum , a typical Mediterranean species [ 16 , 31 ], prefers the Mediterranean climate and has an environmental habitat opposite to that of Korea [ 32 ], resulting in low mycelial biomass in this study. The pH preference for mycelium growth also varies depending on the species [ 14 , 33 ]; in this study, T. koreanum, a native species previously described to have optimal mycelium growth at a pH of 6.0 [ 34 ], showed low mycelial biomass at the experimental site, which had a pH of 8.…”