A bibliometric analysis of research on the anti-obesity effects of curcumin from 2006 to 2025: knowledge structure, research hotspots, and evolution of frontiers.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically map the development trends, knowledge structure, and evolutionary characteristics of research on the anti-obesity effects of curcumin using bibliometric methods, and to identify current hotspots and future directions.

METHODS: Publications on curcumin and obesity published between 2006 and 2025 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) and Scopus. WoSCC was used as the primary dataset for full bibliometric mapping, while Scopus served as an external validation dataset for trend and keyword-structure consistency. After screening, 709 WoSCC records and 234 Scopus records were included. Bibliometric and visualization analyses were performed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny, covering annual publication trends, country and institutional collaborations, author networks, keyword co-occurrence, co-citation patterns, clustering, and burst detection.

RESULTS: The annual number of publications demonstrated a quadratic polynomial growth trend (R2 = 0.9995), indicating a sustained and accelerating increase in this field. National contribution analysis showed that China ranked first in terms of publication output (167 publications), while the United States occupied a central hub position within international collaboration networks. Keyword co-occurrence and co-citation analyses revealed a distinct evolutionary trajectory of research themes. Early studies primarily focused on fundamental biological mechanisms, such as the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of curcumin. Subsequently, research expanded toward experimental and clinical investigations of obesity-related metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes mellitus and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. In recent years, research frontiers have increasingly shifted toward clinical translation, with particular emphasis on optimizing delivery systems to overcome the limitations of curcumin's low bioavailability, especially through the development of nano-based formulations. Cross-database validation showed that Scopus and WoSCC exhibited broadly consistent publication trends and keyword structures despite differences in coverage and indexing.

CONCLUSION: Research on the anti-obesity effects of curcumin has exhibited robust growth, with a clear transition from mechanistic exploration to translational and application-oriented studies. Future efforts should prioritize enhanced international and interdisciplinary collaboration and focus on high-quality clinical studies based on standardized formulations and advanced delivery systems to address bioavailability challenges and facilitate the effective translation of basic research findings into clinical interventions with greater reproducibility and translational relevance.