Bioactive compounds in aquaculture

Bioactive compounds represent a rapidly advancing frontier in aquaculture nutrition, promising solutions to reduce antibiotic dependence, enhance aquatic species resilience, and improve feed sustainability. Yet, the global research landscape driving these innovations remains fragmented. This comprehensive science mapping analysis employs bibliometric and scientometric tools, including CiteSpace and R packages, to analyse the trajectory and impact of research concerning bioactive compounds in aquaculture. Here, we present a comprehensive scientometric synthesis of 17,932 publications and 818,643 cited references from the Web of Science Core Collection (1975–2023), spanning 160 countries and analysed through co-citation, burst detection and cluster network mapping. Our analysis reveals a pronounced surge in publications from 2019 to 2023, reflecting rising demand for functional feeds under climate and disease stressors. Research is strongly concentrated in China (~ 26% of outputs), the USA and Spain, while contributions from Africa and Latin America remain limited, showing persistent regional disparities. The field is shaped by 31 distinct knowledge clusters, with core themes focused on oxidative stress, gut microbiota and alternative proteins, especially insect meals and algal sources. Oreochromis niloticus emerges repeatedly across clusters, and this shows its role as a nutritional model in feed trials and microbiome studies. Co-citation metrics identify seminal works (e.g. Dawood et al., El-Saadony et al., Naylor et al.) that have guided functional additive research, though over-reliance on these few sources risks narrowing future inquiry. Papers with high sigma values (e.g. Turchini, Torstensen, Ng) signify conceptual turning points in lipid replacement strategies. Despite advances, long-term performance data, species-specific microbiota insights and environmental fate assessments of bioactive feeds remain scarce. We recommend a reorientation toward ecosystem-informed nutrition, integrating fish health, water quality and socio-economic viability across diverse geographies and production systems. This review offers a data-driven roadmap for funding bodies, researchers and policy stakeholders to strategically align innovation in bioactive compounds with the global imperatives of sustainable and equitable aquaculture.