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Review
. 2024 May 13;13(10):1510.
doi: 10.3390/foods13101510.

Based on CiteSpace Insights into Illicium verum Hook. f. Current Hotspots and Emerging Trends and China Resources Distribution

Zhoujian He  1   2 , Jie Huan  3 , Meng Ye  1 , Dan Liang  4 , Yongfei Wu  5 , Wenjun Li  6 , Xiao Gong  1 , Liqiong Jiang  6
Affiliations
Review

Based on CiteSpace Insights into Illicium verum Hook. f. Current Hotspots and Emerging Trends and China Resources Distribution

Zhoujian He et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Illicium verum Hook. f. is a globally significant spice, which is recognized in China as a food-medicine homolog and extensively utilized across the pharmaceutical, food, and spice industries. China boasts the world's leading resources of I. verum, yet its comprehensive utilization remains relatively underexplored. Through a resource survey of I. verum and the application of bibliometric visualization using CiteSpace, this study analyzed 324 papers published in the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) from 1962 to 2023 and 353 core documents from China's three major databases (CNKI, Wanfang Database, and VIP Database). I. verum from Guangxi province towards various southern provinces in China, with autumn fruits exhibited superior quality and market value over their spring fruits. Literature in WOSCC emerged earlier, with a research emphasis on food science technology and pharmacology pharmacy domains. WOSCC research on I. verum could be divided into two phases: an embryonic period (1962-2001) and a growth period (2002-2023), showing an overall upward trend in publication. The three major Chinese databases contain a larger number of publications, with a focus on the food sector, which could be categorized into three stages: an embryonic period (1990-1999), a growth period (2000-2010), and a stable period (2011-2023), with an overall downward trend in publication. Both Chinese and international research hotspots converge on the medical applications of I. verum, with antioxidant bioactivity research emerging as a prevailing trend. This study delineated the resource distribution of I. verum across China and identified the research hotspots and trends both in China and internationally. The findings are beneficial for guiding researchers in swiftly establishing their research focus and furnishing decision-makers with a comprehensive reference for industry information.

Keywords: CiteSpace; Illicium verum; bibliometrics; resource.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The process of literature analysis. CWV: CNKI (https://www.cnki.net/), Wanfan data (https://w.wanfangdata.com.cn/index.html?index=true), and VIP data (http://www.cqvip.com/) about publications of I. verum. WOSCC: Web of Science core collection about publications of I. verum.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of I. verum in China. The green-shaded regions in the figure delineate the primary areas of I. verum cultivation in China, while the red dots indicate the distribution points of I. verum across various provinces. YN: Yunnan province; SC: Sichuan province; GZ: Guizhou province; GX: Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; HN: Hunan province; GD: Guangdong province; JX: Jiangxi province; FJ: Fujian province; ZJ: Zhejiang province; TW: Taiwan province. Morphological images of I. verum fruits and flowers. The image was created using ArcGIS 10.5.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Price and Morphology of Two I. verum Varieties from 2019 to 2023. (A) Price of I. verum in Fangchenggang and Wuzhou cities in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. FCG_CG: spring fruits of I. verum in Fangchenggang city; FCG_DH: autumn fruits of I. verum in Fangchenggang city; WZ_CG: spring fruits of I. verum in Wuzhou city; WZ_DH: autumn fruits of I. verum in Wuzhou city. (C) Annual price changes for autumn fruits of I. verum in four major traditional Chinese medicine markets in China. AG: Anguo Medicine Market in Baoding; HZ: Heze Medicine Market in Bozhou; HHC: Hehuachi Medicine Market; YL: Yulin Medicine Market in Yulin. (B) Morphological features of autumn fruits of I. verum. (D) Morphological features of spring fruits of I. verum. The prices depicted in the figure represent the average annual values for each variety. Scale = 1 cm.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Trends of the number of publications issued by I. verum. CWV: CNKI (https://www.cnki.net/), Wanfan data (https://w.wanfangdata.com.cn/index.html?index=true), and VIP data (http://www.cqvip.com/) about publications of I. verum. WOSCC: Web of Science core collection about publications of I. verum.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Network visualization map of cooperation between countries and institutions. (A) CiteSpace network map of institutions involved in I. verum, Modularity (Q = 0.9243), Silhouette (S = 0.9903). (B) CiteSpace network map of countries involved in I. verum, the size of the circle indicates the number of countries that had published papers, and the yellow line indicates the cooperation between different countries. Only the top 20 countries with the number of articles were shown. Modularity (Q = 0.5526), Silhouette (S = 0.7253).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Citespace network of co-cited authorship and TOP 13 authors. (A) co-cited authorship in the field of I. verum research. The size of the circle is positively correlated with the cited counts of the authors, and the yellow lines represent a collaboration between two authors. Modularity (Q = 0.7921), Silhouette (S = 0.8684). (B) TOP 13 author in the field of I. verum research. The small number of points within the module reflects the number of articles published by the author. Modularity (Q = 0.9661), Silhouette (S = 0.9828).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Keyword analysis in I. verum-related study. (A) Visual mapping of keywords in I. verum using CiteSpace; The black lines showed the connections between them. (B) The keyword time zones of I. verum. Modularity (Q = 0.6483), Silhouette (S = 0.8486).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Keywords with the strongest citation bursts of I. verum. (A) Keywords from 1962 to 2023 appear in WOSCC. (B) The keywords of 1990~2023 in the three major Chinese databases appear. The red part indicated that the keyword was in a high-frequency state during the time period.
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