Huitlacoche Project

This study was part of a collaboration between Friends of Troy Gardens and UW-Madison professors Lydia Zepeda (Consumer Science) and Bill Tracy (Agronomy). The purpose of the study was to identify specialty crops that could support Troy Community Farm programs. The project included gathering marketing information, identifying production costs, and investigating sustainable production methods.

Specifically, we explored huitlacoche as a specialty item for Troy Community Farm. Huitlacoche is a corn mushroom that has been eaten as a delicacy in Mexico for centuries. This mushroom has become internationally recognized as a gourmet food, featured in magazines such as Bon Appétit, and has one of the highest protein values among mushrooms. While it does occur naturally on corn, we researched deliberately propagating the corn to ensure consistent supply and a good quality product.

This project began in 2003, when we held several local events to explore the potential market for huitlacoche in Madison. These events also served as a way to introduce Madison’s Hispanic community to the Troy Community Farm, and to forge linkages with local Hispanic businesses like Mercado Marimar.

Friends of Troy Gardens explored the propagation of huitlacoche to enable the sale of this product, but unfortunately ran across some challenges to be able to produce it for the open market, so the Troy Community Farm is no longer growing huitlacoche.

Huitlacoche has attracted a large number of people to our site both nationally and internationally. In response to this interest, one of the leading researchers of this project from the University of Wisconsin has created a site to connect potential buyers and sellers, or other perople who may have an interest in huitlacoche.

Please visit this new website at http://huitlacoche.org/forum/