Himalaya plants have essential ecological implications and are frequently used by local tribes for various purposes, many of which are traditionally used to cure various ailments in humans and livestock. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the global scientific production of Himalaya plant research, study the characteristics of Himalaya plant research activities,
and identify patterns, tendencies, and regularities of related articles. Data were based on the online version of Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-Expanded), from the Web of Science database. Articles referring to Himalaya plant were assessed by the trend of publication output during 1998 to 2017. Globally, 2,471 papers were published during the 20-year
study period. The most productive countries, institutions, Web of Science subject categories, and journals, as well as the most cited articles, were identified. The mainstream research on Himalaya plant was in the plant sciences, ecology, environmental sciences, pharmacology and pharmacy. India, China, USA, and Pakistan held the majority of total world
production. Research on the species diversity and conservation, medicinal plants, and ethnobotany remained the hotspot during the 20-year study period, whereas that on the related topic “climate change” increased dramatically since 2009.
CONCLUSION: With synthetic analysis of word in article title, author keyword, abstract, and Key Words Plus Key Words Plus, it can be concluded that application of compounds derived from Himalaya plants in clinical medicine, pharmacology and oncology, and research related to chemistry, genetics, and microbiology is the ongoing Himalaya plant research in the
21st century. Gaps are present in knowledge about the genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics of Himalaya plants and their associated microbes.
Author(s): DA-CHENG HAO, XUE YUAN, YAN-HONG DI, PEI-GEN XIA
Organization(s): Dalian Jiaotong University, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
Source: Pakistan Journal of Botany
Year: 2019
Easy to understand overview also by people outside botany. Enjoyed reading.