CEVA, CUNEO - Can something as delicate and ephemeral as a mushroom be made “eternal”? The gift of immortality may be impossible to bestow, but it is possible to extend a mushroom’s lifespan far beyond its natural limits. How? By freeze-drying it in a machine that removes the water while preserving its colors and characteristics, with only a slight reduction in size. There are only a handful of these machines in Italy. One is in Ceva, in Piedmont in the province of Cuneo, where it was brought in by volunteers from the Gruppo Micologico Cebano, a small army of nature enthusiasts devoted to the “King of the Forest.”

“The freeze dryer has four shelves,” they explain, “where we place the specimens according to size. The process takes several days.” But what kind of magic happens inside that cylinder, housed in what looks like a large box? “The principle is to rapidly lower the temperature, taking it from room temperature to minus 58 degrees in about 20 minutes. The compressor extracts the water under vacuum.” The specimens are checked daily at the group’s headquarters, where its valuable collection of freeze-dried specimens is kept. There are nearly 400 so far, including truffles — underground fungi that grow beneath the soil.

How did they get the freeze dryer? Aldo Viora explains: “We went to the Natural History Museum in Lugano, which is very advanced in this field. We fell in love with the technique. So we bought the machine in Milan. With the freeze-dried specimens, we can study and display spring species at our autumn exhibition — species that would otherwise be impossible to have on hand. How long does a treated mushroom last? We’re still at the beginning, but in Lugano I saw a 20-year-old Amanita Muscaria. It was perfect.”

“Freeze-dried specimens retain their natural appearance, with just a slight fading of color,” confirms Nicolò Oppicelli, an internationally renowned mycologist. “For visitors, they’re a curiosity; for researchers, they offer an opportunity to observe out-of-season specimens in three dimensions.”