With regard to research, the company F.lli Menzo s.a.s. has been involved for many years in experimentation, producing annually experimental fields in order to get new plant varieties in particular wheat and legumes.
As part of the genetic improvement, research work is carried out through a series of precise schedules of crossing and selection that aim to focus a series of favourable agronomic traits (quality and yield, resistance to biotic and abiotic stress) in a limited number of plants that will create new varieties.
The company employs a laboratory to test the plant material in selection for quality of grain, bran and gluten through specific instruments. To these, for some years, they were added bio-molecular tools in order to integrate in the traditional selection, the application of molecular markers. Therefore, in this way, it’s possible to get the advantage of determining the presence of the desired genetic trait directly at the DNA level, speeding up and simplifying the timing to get new varieties and ensuring greater efficiency than the conventional method.
The results showed the different performances of the genetic material in comparison to each others and have highlighted the availability of cultivars with quality features that meet the needs of processing industry and with high yield stability and adaptability to the soil and climate of Italy South Central. The plant material in selection is tested for the organoleptic traits also by public and private laboratories. For the quality related to the pasta making, the company it caters to the laboratory NAMAD in Rome.
To date the company F.lli Menzo has joined to the National Register of Variety, the variety of common vetch Ereica (year of registration 2004) and durum wheat varieties K26 (year of registration 2006), Isola and Orizzonte (year of registration 2011), Opera (year of registration 2013).
The placing on the market of high-protein varieties will give the chance to the company F.lli Menzo to organize in the near future a chain, for the production of high quality grain mill, which will involve the seed companies, as well as centers storage, farmers and naturally processing industries.
