Academic scientific impact and emerging patterns in research on additives, preservatives and asthma: A scientometric...

Food additives and preservatives are widely used, but the associations between additives and preservatives and asthma have been hardly investigated. The existing research is limited and scattered and warrants further serious scientific and public health inquiry. To examine scientific literature concerning the relationship between food additives, preservatives and asthma. It identified relevant trends and patterns of global interest and measured academic impact an international collaboration in this area.

A scientometric analysis was conducted covering publications between January 2019 and March 2025. The indicators considered included annual publication growth, cumulative citations, citation indexes, and international collaboration patterns. The search, conducted in the Scopus database, used specific terms and rigorous criteria. The data obtained were analyzed using R Studio software and the bibliometrix tool, complemented with Bradford's and Lotka's laws, collaboration maps, and thematic diagrams.

From 2019 to 2025, 22 total documents related to additives, preservatives, and asthma were located, and a modest level of entrance existed in this emerging area of interest. While reflecting a modest area of interest, the average annual growth rate was 5.7%, with 17 citations on average per document. These 175 authors were all involved through collaborations, and only 9% of the publications used international coauthorships. China was the most active countries with 6 articles, with Denmark having the highest weighted impact. The highest average impact was at the University of Zurich, with 83.5 citations per article. The three most frequent keywords in the publications were asthma, allergy, and food additives, which was indicative that the research focused on illnesses of the respiratory system and how they are related to chemical/natural agents and environment.

The research reports aided in establishing global trends and collaboration patterns when studying modern-day additives and asthma. These reports emphasized not only the need to continue understanding food additives and their impacts on respiratory health but also relevant global scientific activities in this area.