When it comes to giving gifts on Valentine’s Day, you might consider mushrooms and other fungi if you’ve reached your limit when it comes to chocolates and roses. Mushrooms are culinary delights in their own right, but none is more renowned or desirable than the truffle. The fungal truffle lent its name to the confectionery treat in the 1920s and is still a worldwide delicacy. The smell and flavor of truffles are largely described as being earthy, musky, and intense by experts in this field. The scent is special in other ways, too. Truffles grow underground, so they require animals to dig them up, eat them, and disperse their spores in order to reproduce.

Truffles release chemical scents that mimic pheromones produced by mammals to encourage animals to eat them. Boars produce androstenone, one of these chemicals, in their saliva, which is the primary sexual hormone. Therefore, truffle hunters often use female pigs to track down the elusive mushrooms. As androstenone is also found in human sweat, some people consider truffles to be aphrodisiacs.

Now, if you are making a special Valentine’s meal for your significant other tomorrow night, you might want to take some of these suggestions into consideration.

Just saying…

Click on the name of the various aphrodisiacs to find a recipe for each.

asparagus – loaded with essential vitamin E

basil – libido lifting nutrients vitamins A and C, magnesium, beta carotene, and potassium

caviar – luxurious jewels from the sea, salty and sexy

chiles  – elevates heart rate, raises body temperature, makes lips swell

chocolate – releases phenylethylamine, the same hormone love-making releases and increases endorphin secretions and raises heart rate

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