Application of solid-state fermentation by microbial biotechnology for bioprocessing of agro-industrial wastes from 1970 to 2020: A review and bibliometric analysis

This paper reviews the pertinent literature from 1970 to 2020 and presents a bibliometric analysis of research trends in the application of solid-state fermentation in the bioprocessing of agro-industrial wastes. A total 5630 publications of studies on solid-state fermentation that comprised of 5208 articles (92.50%), 340 book chapters (6.04%), 39 preprints (0.69%), 32 proceedings (0.56%), 8 edited books (0.14%) and 3 monographs (0.05%) were retrieved from Dimensions database. A review of the literature indicated that (i) fermentation of solid substrates is variously defined in the literature over the past 50 years, where solid-state fermentation is the most dominant research term used, and (ii) key products derived from the valorization of agro-industrial wastes through solid -state fermentation include, among others, enzymes, antioxidants, animal feed, biofuel, organic acids, bio-surfactants, etc. Bibliometric analyses with VOSviewer revealed an astronomic increase in publications between 2000 and 2020, and further elucidated the most frequently explored core research topics, the most highly cited publications and authors, and countries/regions with the highest number of citations. The most cited publication between 2010 and 2020 had 382 citations compared to 725 citations for the most cited publication from 1970 to 2020. Ashok Pandey from India was the most published and cited author with 123 publications and 8,613 ci-tations respectively; whereas Bioresource Technology was the most published and cited journal with 233 publi-cations and 12,394 citations. Countries with the most publications and citations are Brazil, France, India, and Mexico. These findings suggest that research in the application of solid-state fermentation for bioprocessing of agro-industrial wastes has gained prominence over the past 50 years. Future perspectives and implications are discussed.

Automated summary

This paper reviews the literature from 1970 to 2020 and conducts a bibliometric analysis of the application of solid-state fermentation in the bioprocessing of agro-industrial wastes. The analysis reveals a significant increase in research on solid-state fermentation in the past 50 years, focusing on the definition of solid-state fermentation and the valorization of agro-industrial wastes. It also identifies Ashok Pandey from India as the most prolific author and Brazil, France, India, and Mexico as the leading research countries.