Research Progress of Lycium ruthenicum Based on CiteSpace

Lycium ruthenicum, a plant resource rich in health-active ingredients such as acylated petunidin anthocyanins, is increasingly receiving attention. In order to further understand the current status and dynamic trends of the research on Lycium ruthenicum, a bibliometric method was employed using relevant literature from the Web of Science core collection database, utilizing multidimensional statistical analysis. This article focuses on an overview of Lycium ruthenicum research from 1978 to 2023, comprehensively presenting its research development. The results indicated that the number of literature on Lycium ruthenicum showed an upward trend, with the Chinese studies started earlier than the English studies. From 1994 to 2018, the number of publications on Lycium ruthenicum far exceeded levels seen in any previous period. Research on Lycium ruthenicum in Northwest China was particularly active, which was consistent with the evolution of its industrial distribution and development dynamics, Chinese scholars, especially those from research institutes and their affiliated units in Northwest China, played a leading role in advancing research on Lycium ruthenicum, while the United States and Pakistan had also contributed a significant amount of research. Chemical components and their health activities had been a persistent research focus on Lycium ruthenicum studies, and research in the area of food science and technology was also receiving increasing attention, particularly the study and development of anthocyanin components. Additionally, there had been a few reports on the salt-tolerant characteristics of Lycium ruthenicum, as well as basic molecular biology research covering functional gene mining and the biosynthetic pathways of anthocyanins and other metabolites. Overall, more attention is needed in agricultural and health-related research areas to lay a theoretical foundation for the application of Lycium ruthenicum.