Societal Impact Statement: Biodiversity is essential to food security and nutrition locally and globally. By reviewing the global state of edible plants and highlighting key neglected and underutilized species (NUS), we attempt to unlock plant food resources and explore the role of fungi, which along with the wealth of traditional knowledge about their uses and practices, could help support sustainable agriculture while ensuring better protection of the environment and the continued delivery of its ecosystem services. This work will inform a wide range of user communities, including scientists, conservation and development organizations, policymakers, and the public of the importance of biodiversity beyond mainstream crops.Summary: As the world's population is increasing, humanity is facing both shortages (hunger) and excesses (obesity) of calorie and nutrient intakes. Biodiversity is fundamental to addressing this double challenge, which involves a far better understanding of the global state of food resources. Current estimates suggest that there are at least 7,039 edible plant species, in a broad taxonomic sense, which includes 7,014 vascular plants. This is in striking contrast to the small handful of food crops that provide the majority of humanity's calorie and nutrient intake. Most of these 7,039 edible species have additional uses, the most common being medicines (70%), materials (59%), and environmental uses (40%). Species of major food crops display centers of diversity, as previously proposed, while the rest of edible plants follow latitudinal distribution patterns similarly to the total plant diversity, with higher species richness at lower latitudes. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List includes global conservation assessments for at least 30% of edible plants, with ca. 86% of them conserved ex situ. However, at least 11% of those species recorded are threatened. We highlight multipurpose NUS of plants from different regions of the world, which could be key for a more resilient, sustainable, biodiverse, and community participation‐driven new “green revolution.” Furthermore, we explore how fungi could diversify and increase the nutritional value of our diets. NUS, along with the wealth of traditional knowledge about their uses and practices, offer a largely untapped resource to support food security and sustainable agriculture. However, for these natural resources to be unlocked, enhanced collaboration among stakeholders is vital.

The lifespan or longevity of a seed is the time period over which it can remain viable. Seed longevity is a complex trait and varies greatly between species and even seed lots of the same species. Our scientific understanding of seed longevity has advanced from anecdotal ‘Thumb Rules,’ to empirically based models, biophysical explanations for why those models sometimes work or fail, and to the profound realisation that seeds are the model of the underexplored realm of biology when water is so limited that the cytoplasm solidifies. The environmental variables of moisture and temperature are essential factors that define survival or death, as well as the timescale to measure lifespan. There is an increasing understanding of how these factors induce cytoplasmic solidification and affect glassy properties. Cytoplasmic solidification slows down, but does not stop, the chemical reactions involved in ageing. Continued degradation of proteins, lipids and nucleic acids damage cell constituents and reduce the seed’s metabolic capacity, eventually impairing the ability to germinate. This review captures the evolution of knowledge on seed longevity over the past five decades in relation to seed ageing mechanisms, technology development, including tools to predict seed storage behaviour and non-invasive techniques for seed longevity assessment. It is concluded that seed storage biology is a complex science covering seed physiology, biophysics, biochemistry and multi-omic technologies, and simultaneous knowledge advancement in these areas is necessary to improve seed storage efficacy for crops and wild species biodiversity conservation.