Massimiliano Renna is a researcher at the CNR-ISPA (Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council, Italy). In 2013 he received his Ph.D. degree in Mediterranean Agronomy at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy. From 2015 to 2018 he was a researcher at the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy. He is an advisory board member of the Academy of Mediterranean Biodiversity Sciences and a member of the Italian Society of Horticulture. His research interests include a broad range of aspects regarding vegetable products, with particular attention being paid to vegetable landraces and wild edible plants. He is the author of three books and more than 60 scientific papers published in national and international journals and proceedings of national and international conferences.
Pietro Santamaria is an Associate Professor of the University of Bari Aldo Moro at the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science. He teaches vegetable crops for two master’s degree courses, soilless culture for the bachelor program “Agricultural Science and Technology”, and science communication and scientific publications at the PhD School in “Biodiversity, Agriculture and the Environment”. He coordinated the integrated project “Biodiversity of the vegetables of Puglia (BiodiverSO, 2014–2018)”. He is the author or co-author of more than 300 scientific publications including fourteen books (six monographs).
Angelo Signore is a researcher of the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Bari Aldo Moro (Italy). His research interests cover several aspects related to vegetables, including nitrates in leafy vegetables, soilless systems, agro-biodiversity, and the light spectrum. Together with Dr. Francesco Serio and Prof. Pietro Santamaria, he won the “Bram Steiner Award 2016” for outstanding research on the uptake of nutrients from nutrient solution by plants. He spent two years at Ghent University conducting studies on the influence of the light spectrum on the nitrate content in leafy vegetables. He is the author of more than 50 scientific papers published in national and international journals.
Francesco Fabiano Montesano is a researcher at the CNR–ISPA (Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council, Italy). After receiving his Ph.D. in Mediterranean Agronomy at the University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’ (Italy), Dr Montesano has been focusing his research activities on the sustainable use of inputs and resources in horticultural processes. His areas of interest includes greenhouse cultivation, soilless techniques, sensor-based management of irrigation and fertilization, optimization of mineral plant nutrition for the enhancement of nutritional quality of vegetables, alternative growing media, and enhancement of the role of agro-biodiversity in food systems. He is involved in research projects and initiatives on the abovementioned topics at the national and international level, and plays an active role in the scientific community, both as an author and by regularly serving as a peer reviewer and supporting editorial processes for many international journals.
Maria Gonnella is researcher at the CNR-ISPA (Institute of Sciences of Food Production of the Italian National Research Council). Her research activity deals with vegetable production and quality under open field and greenhouse conditions, with particular attention paid to plant nutrition in relation to the organoleptic and nutritional quality of products and the sustainability of production. A wide range of species and varieties are the object of her studies, from wild genotypes to local landraces to cultivated varieties. She is the author of more than 40 scientific papers in national and international journals.
