## 2 Mediterranean Diet and Agrobiodiversity
Figure 2: (**a**) Wild chicory (_Cichorium intybus_ L.) leaves sold in a local farmer’s market in Puglia (Italy), whole plant appearance, and a traditional Mediterranean dish prepared combining wild chicory leaves characterized by bitter flavor and dry fava beans characterized by mild taste. (**b**) Example of wild plants of _Scolymus hispanicus_ L, and midribs cleaned and separated from the spiny lamina and used to prepare a traditional Easter dish with other wild plants and herbs typical of the Murgia (Puglia, Italy), combined with eggs and occasionally lamb. (**c**) Plants of wild _Sinapis alba_ L. harvested, cleaned, and used to prepare “spaghetti and cime amarelle” a traditional rural dish in Puglia (Italy), revisited according to today’s habits using processed pasta instead of traditional whole-grain pasta. Photo credits: [PERSON]. Plant-based diets, including MD, are not only beneficial to human health due to reduced risk factors for several chronic diseases, but they also contribute to environmental sustainability through the adoption of healthy lifestyles [107]. Although MD is sustainable in its conception, the recently identified social and economic trends make it necessary to reevaluate the whole food chain, including crop production, food production, and consumption, also considering environmental, nutritional, economic, and social aspects [106]. Recently, several reports highlighted the importance of commercial cultivation of wild edible greens within the framework of sustainable management of native Mediterranean species and the exigent need for an increase in agrobidiversity in farming systems, which is threatened by ongoing climate change and monocropping [108; 109; 110; 111]. According to a recent report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, only nine crops contribute 66% of the global total production of food [37]. The existing cropping systems in most of the Mediterranean countries consist of small-scale farms, which are ideal for the commercial cultivation of high added value crops, such as underutilized wild edible greens [41; 55; 99; 100; 102; 112; 113; 114; 115]. Moreover, the socioeconomic conditions faced by southern European countries during the last decade resulted in limited access to healthy and natural food ingredients that were traditionally used by poor people on a daily basis, because the prices of these food products increased making them affordable only to citizens with high incomes [116]. Several studies revealed that the adherence to MD was higher in social strata that belonged to high socioeconomic status, a finding that was also reflected in higher mortality rates and higher frequencies of chronic diseases among lower social strata [117; 118; 119]. Therefore, commercial cultivation of wild species could be a useful means to reduce their production cost, to increase their availability throughout the year, and, finally, to make them more affordable to the general public [110]. Moreover, the domestication and commercial cultivation of wild edible plants allow small-scale farms to obtain more stable yields and guarantee the origin of the product and its hygien quality, in addition to the conservation of the agro-ecosystem, which may be an issue when collecting spontaneous plants. Although the commercial cultivation of wild edible species may be challenging in many aspects, farmers have successfully repeated this process for a large number of crops. An example of a Mediterranean wild edible species that has been successfully domesticated in recent decades is wild arugula (_Diplotaxis tenuifolia_ (L.) [PERSON]). Today, wild rocket is cultivated globally in open fields and protected environments using both soil and soilless systems. It is available to buy year-round, mostly as a fresh-cut leafy vegetable, and is increasingly appreciated by consumers for its pungent taste and interesting nutritional and bioactive profile [94; 95; 120].