Research on Mycotoxins in Sheep and Goat Milk: Growth,Research Priorities and Knowledge Gaps

The objectives of the present study were i) the systematic identification and evaluation of the published literature on mycotoxins in sheep and goat milk, ii) the characterization of its bibliometric and scientific features and iii) the identification of trends, imbalances and knowledge gaps that may help direct future research in this field. A systematic search of the Web of Science Core Collection revealed 90 published papers on the topic. Bibliometric characteristics were evaluated for all papers, whilst the scientific content of original articles (n = 85) was examined in detail. Annual publication rates increased from 0.50 during 1979–1994 to 1.69 during 1995–2010 and 3.47 during 2011–October 2026. Publications originated from 38 countries, with 71.1% originating from nine countries; limited international collaboration was seen in the published papers. Epidemiological investigations represented the most frequent research objective (40.0%), followed by studies on transfer from feedstuffs consumed by animals to their milk (17.6%). The research priorities evolved over time, with increasing attention to mycotoxin inactivation in recent years. Aflatoxin M1 was investigated most frequently (91.8% of original articles). High-performance liquid chromatography (56.5%) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (31.8%) were the predominant analytical methods. Multivariable analysis identified the number of keywords and the inclusion of milk from additional animal species in the studies as factors positively associated with increased annual citation counts. Overall, research activity has increased substantially over the years; however, it remains geographically concentrated and pre-dominantly focused on aflatoxin M1. Broader investigation of other mycotoxins and attention to their transfer into dairy products are needed.