Marco Moor, inventor of Salanova: “Creating something from virtually nothing”

It will be about ten years ago now that Marco Moor and fellow-selectors Egberts Smits and Aad Ammerlaan came up with the idea to develop a lettuce species which would effortlessly fit into the convenience trend. That turned out to be Salanova®. Initially, the deeply-incised types burst onto the market but for the past three years a second generation has also been available: multi-leaf lettuce. Soft and crunchy leaves with a nice, tangy taste.

Just one cut and it is ready. The Salanova types developed by the plant breeding department were welcomed with open arms. “Following the successful introduction we were able to go full steam ahead with creating new varieties and types,” enthuses Moor. The second generation was not long in coming. This generation is characterised by heads with 2 – 4 times more (small) leaves than usual.

These so-called multi-leaf types are available as green and red butterhead lettuce and as red oakleaf lettuce. “We are now working hard on a green oakleaf and the batavia types are also getting our attention. The idea is to be able to offer the widest possible range of varieties, preferably not only for glasshouse but also for outdoor crops.”

Working on the range

“No, our work is far from done. The current Salanova® is good, but there is always room for improvement. Growers must be able to supply a product of the highest possible quality year-round, and midwinter and midsummer will always be the difficult growing periods. Bolting is something you definitely do not want and tipburn on all those leaves? No, thank you. And what about green lettuce aphid and mildew? My team are on top of it all.

Before long, the breeding department hopes to be able to offer all the Nasonovia-resistant varieties with sufficient resistance to the current mildew strains as well. We also aim to develop varieties which are flexible where marketing is concerned. A product destined for a processing plant should just as easily be available as a fresh-market product. In other words: varieties with a wide-usage value.”

No concessions

That it is possible, even in the year 2005, to come on the market with something totally new has been proved by Marco Moor with the multi-leaf lettuce types. “I really get a kick out of that: creating something from virtually nothing. Ten years ago Salanova® didn’t exist. We only had an idea, but no comparative material. And after years of repeatedly combining characteristics, selecting, combining characteristics again and selecting once more, slowly but surely a useable product emerged.

Wonderful! That’s how it was with the first generation and, again, with the second. The second generation was just a little bit longer in coming. “The main difference? The concept is still the same, only the cutting action varies. But I think the most important advantages of the new types are more than anything the many uniform, small leaves, their good shelf life and excellent flavour.”

Marco Moor and his colleagues will be kept busy for the time being then, improving existing varieties and developing new types. But without making any concessions, says Moor emphatically. “Only products of the highest quality and with the best characteristics qualify for the Salanova® name.”

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Source: Salanova