Natural products in diabetes research: quantitative literature analysis

The current study aimed to identify which natural products and which research directions are related to the major contributors to academic journals for diabetes therapy. Bibliometric data were extracted from the Web of Science online database using the search string TOPIC = (''natural product*' OR ''natural compound*' OR ''natural molecule*' OR 'phytochemical*' OR ''secondary metabolite*') AND TS = ('diabet*') and analysed by a bibliometric software, VOSviewer. The search yielded 3694 publications, which were collectively cited 80,791 times, with an H-index of 117 and 21.9 citations per publication on average. The top-contributing countries were India, the USA, China, South Korea and Brazil. Curcumin, flavanone, resveratrol, carotenoid, polyphenols, flavonol, flavone and berberine were the most frequently cited natural products or compound classes. Our results provide a brief overview of the major directions of natural product research in diabetes up to now and hint on promising avenues for future research.

Automated summary

The study identified the major contributors and research directions related to diabetes therapy in academic journals by analyzing bibliometric data from the Web of Science online database. Curcumin, flavanone, resveratrol, carotenoid, polyphenols, flavonol, flavone, and berberine were found to be the most frequently cited natural products or compound classes in relation to diabetes therapy research. The results provide insights into the major research directions and potential avenues for future research in natural products for diabetes.