The neglected and underutilized plants (NUPs) have never been mainstreamed by researchers, politicians and stakeholders for sustainable exploitation in the ornamental-horticultural sector. This study focused on 399 local endemic plants of three Mediterranean regions (Crete, Mediterranean coast-Rif of Morocco, Tunisia), with the aim to develop a new scheme for their multifaceted ornamental-horticultural evaluation facilitating their sustainable exploitation. The methodological scheme was developed within three multidisciplinary co-creative workshops by experts and was adjusted by end-users. The developed scheme uses point and weighted scoring of several attributes relevant to biological and ornamental-horticultural characteristics and concerns three ranking levels: (i) ornamental-horticultural potential (general or subsector-specific; 20 attributes), (ii) sustainable exploitation feasibility (12 attributes) and (iii) readiness timescale (after gap and SWOT analyses) in creating value chains in short-, medium- or long-term. The analysis of the data illustrated two example-cases of already achieved sustainable exploitation with established value chains; outlined the prospects for sustainable exploitation of 18 and 23 local endemic NUPs in short-term and medium-term, respectively; and identified 86 taxa with reachable possibilities in the long-term. The proposed multifaceted evaluation scheme can be applied for the valorisation of NUPs in other areas and may help to define priorities and to identify opportunities and gaps for their sustainable exploitation.

This study aims to investigate the biological activities of endemic plant Anabasis aretioïdes harvested in eastern Morocco. Various extracts were prepared from aerial part by aqueous and organic extraction using a Soxhlet and cold maceration. Preliminary phytochemical analysis was carried out on the powder and on the different extracts by standard phytochemical tests, and was confirmed by a quantitative analysis based on the determination of total polyphenols and cathechic tannins. Antioxidant activity was evaluated in vitro by five methods: H₂O₂, DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and RP, and the antibacterial activity was carried out by disc diffusion method and the determination of MIC and MBC. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of cathechic tannins, saponins, and sterols and quantitative analysis showed that Ethyl acetate extract presented the high level of phenolic and cathechic tannins contents (46.79 ± 0.75 µg GAE/mg E and 46.46 ± 0.67 µg CE/mg E). A highest hydrogen peroxide activity was observed in aqueous macerated extract (7.84 ± 0.44%) and the macerated methanol extract has the highest rates for the other four antioxidant activity tests: It was able to reduce DPPH with an IC₅₀ of 52.91 ± 0.24 µg/ml, the highest ABTS•+ radical scavenging capacity (48.99 ± 1.316 µg TE/mg E), it showed also the highest antioxidant activity by the FRAP and reducing power test (99.73 ± 3.570 µg TE/mg E and 72.176 ± 0.540 µg AAE/mg E). Antibacterial screening showed that the maximum zone of inhibition was noted for ethyl acetate extract against Staphylococcus aureus (13.5 mm). The lowest MIC value was obtained with methanolic and macerated methanolic extracts against Protéus mirabilis strain (MIC = 3.125 mg/ml). Principal component analysis showed that the four methods ABTS, DPPH, FRAP, and RP are highly correlated and a correlation between the antioxidant activity and the total phenolic contents of the extracts indicated that phenolic compounds were the dominant contributors to the antioxidant activity of the plant.

Medicinal-aromatic plants (MAPs) are important sources for the development of new valuable products of interest to human and animal health, and are also used as ornamentals for the horticulture industry. However, the increased global demand and the uncontrolled exploitation of these plants constitute a threat to their sustainability. To date, few scientific investigations have focused on MAPs valorization and their domestication. The purpose of this study was to evaluate for the first time the medicinal-cosmetic potential of 399 local endemic Mediterranean plants confined to Crete (223 taxa), the Mediterranean coast-Rif of Morocco (94), and Tunisia (82). The new methodological scheme was developed by experts through three multidisciplinary co-creative workshops and was adjusted by end-users to point-scoring of nine attributes evaluating the potential of the targeted neglected and underutilized plants (NUPs) in the medicinal-cosmetic sector. The results were demonstrated as percentage of the maximum possible score. These assessments were further linked and discussed with respect to feasibility and readiness timescale evaluations for sustainable exploitation of the focal NUPs. A great diversity of local endemic NUPs (30 taxa, 11 families) were associated with interesting medicinal-cosmetic properties (>35% up to 94.44%). Among them, 8 taxa showed the highest medicinal-cosmetic potential (>55% of maximum possible score), half of which are threatened with extinction. Although ex-situ conservation efforts and applied research work are needed to safeguard and unlock the full potential of the local endemic NUPs evaluated herein, the proposed multifaceted evaluation scheme revealed that some local endemic NUPs of the studied regions can be sustainably exploited in short- or medium-term, following successful examples of Cretan NUPs e.g., Origanum dictramnus. The sustainable exploitation of high scored taxa of the studied regions can be fastened through targeted species-specific research bridging extant research gaps and facilitating conservation and stakeholder attraction.

The neglected and underutilized plants (NUPs) could become alternative food sources in the agro-alimentary sector, enriching human and animal diets, offering the opportunity for sustainable exploitation, resilience to climate change, and production with resistance to pests and diseases. In the Mediterranean countries, these valuable resources are threatened by climate change, overexploitation, and/or monoculture. In this framework, we evaluated 399 local endemic NUPs of Crete (Greece), the Mediterranean coast, Rif of Morocco, and Tunisia, regarding their agro-alimentary potential, and assessed their feasibility and readiness timescale for sustainable exploitation with own previously published methodology. The methodological scheme was developed by experts in co-creative workshops, using point-scoring of seven attributes to evaluate the potential of the targeted NUPs in the agro-alimentary. Our results showed a diversity of promising local endemic NUPs of different families in the studied regions (Lamiaceae members are prominent), and we outlined the cases of 13 taxa with the highest optimum scores of agro-alimentary potential (>70%). Despite the diversity or the promising potential and current ex-situ conservation efforts to bridge gaps, our study indicated that only a few cases of Cretan local endemic NUPs can be sustainably exploited in the short-term. However, it is argued that many more local endemic NUPs can easily follow sustainable exploitation schemes if specific research gaps are bridged. Since NUPs can help to increased diversification of food production systems by adding new nutritional/beneficial species to human and animal diets, basic and applied research, as well as market and stakeholder attraction, is suggested as prerequisite to unlock the full potential of the focal endemic NUPs in the agro-alimentary sector.