The Genus Curcuma under the Lens: A Multi-Tier Review of Bibliometric Performance Analysis, Ethnobotanical Insights, Species-Specific Evidence Mapping, and Clinical Trial Landscape

Background, the genus Curcuma (Family: Zingiberaceae), which comprises 180 accepted species, as per the Plants of the World Online (POWO) database, is well known for its extensive usage in traditional medicine. Several species of the genus offer a wide spectrum of biological/ pharmacological activities, yet a significant number remain unexplored. Objective, This review aims to assess the global research landscape of the genus Curcuma through a concise bibliometric (performance) analysis, to identify species-specific evidence for highlighting the underexplored species, to map the clinical trial landscape of the genus Curcuma and suggest future directions for the Curcuma research associated with biomedical fields. Methods, a concise bibliometric analysis was conducted utilising R software (Bibliometrix, an R package with a web-based interface, Biblioshiny) on Scopus-indexed publications from 2014 to 2024. The information regarding the accepted Curcuma species, their biogeographical insights and their synonyms was retrieved from the database ‘Plants of the World Online’ (POWO). Furthermore, an extensive literature review was carried out using databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Google Scholar to determine the taxonomic, nutritional, as well as pharmacological attributes of the genus Curcuma. At the same time, the evidence and data regarding the reported compounds and/or biological/pharmacological activities of each species were extracted from peer-reviewed literature sources. Apart from these, clinical trial data related to Curcuma were retrieved from the ClinicalTrials.gov database for subsequent analysis. Results, the bibliometric analysis revealed an increasing trend in Curcuma-based medicinal studies, high global research, and increased citations. Furthermore, species-wise literature search implied that ~62% of the genus is yet to be explored in terms of chemical characterisation and biological/pharmacological evaluation, which indicates a significant research gap. Also, the clinical trial landscape of the genus revealed a globally active yet predominantly early-to-mid-stage, academically driven research domain with significant gaps, which needs to be addressed for full-scale clinical translation as well as therapeutic integration. Conclusion, although the pharmacological importance of selected Curcuma species is well established, a large portion of the genus remains underexplored in terms of chemical characterisation (including phytochemical profiling) and biological/pharmacological evaluation. Integrating traditional ethnobotanical knowledge with modern technologies can reveal the complete therapeutic potential of the genus.