Visual analysis of research status and hotspots of Panax notoginseng from 2000 to 2023: A bibliometric review

BACKGROUND: Panax notoginseng is the most widely used Chinese medicine for preventing and treating ischemic diseases. Because of its good clinical efficacy, high safety, and few adverse reactions, some countries (e.g., the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Australia) have paid it increasing attention, and the number of related studies is also increasing. However, relevant studies are scattered and fragmented, and few systematic summaries and rounded analyses have been conducted. Thus, in this study, we collect and analyze data from the published literature to help researchers understand the research situation in the field and explore research hotspots and frontiers. METHODS: Search and download the literature on Panax notoginseng research published from 2000 to 2023 from 3 English databases. We used VOSviewer, Microsoft Excel, and CiteSpace to visually analyze annual publishing trends, publishing countries, institutions, authors, journals, keywords, and references in the field. RESULTS: A total of 1329 papers were included. The number of papers increased every year, especially in 2022. The leading countries in this field are China, the United States, and South Korea. Kunming University of Science & Technology published the most papers. Most publications were found in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology. The most prolific author is Wan Jian-Bo. Keywords with the highest frequency were Panax notoginseng, saponins, ginseng, and Panax notoginseng saponin. Eleven clusters and 25 burst keywords were generated. CONCLUSIONS: To date, the research focus in this field has primarily focused on 4 aspects: research on pharmacologic components and quality control, mechanism of action and pathway target research, investigation of applicable diseases and therapeutic effects, and research on cultivation and yield increase. At the same time, research on microscopization, normalization, standardization, and objectification of traditional Chinese medicine is also developing.