Enigmatic Truffle
Black truffles (Tuber melanosporum) depend on animals, such as pigs, to eat them, carry their spores away, and release them in excrement. But how does a lowly fungus burried in the earth entice such animals as pigs (and humans) into eating them?
The answer lies in the compound anadamide. The name comes from the Sanskrit word for bliss, and provides a clue to the effect truffles have on the brain. When anadamide is ingested, it releases mood-enhancing chemicals in the brain by binding to receptors in the brain in a biological mechanism similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
While the fungus is able to produce anandamide, they aren't able to use it; they don't have the receptors necessary to unlock the phsycoactive effects. This lead researchers to the hypothesis that the chemcial was made to entice animals into eating them; stronger smelling (an therefore more enticing) truffles are more mature with a greater number spores available for dispersal contained more anadamide.
It seems the chemical works wonders, too, as animals ranging from pigs to grizzly bears, meerkats and baboons and humans love to feast on the fungus, working themselves into a frantic state when they catch a whiff of a truffle.
Further Reading: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031942214004956
Picture Credit: ulterior epicure https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulteriorepicure/
