Visual analysis of research status and hotspots of Pinellia ternata from 2004 to 2025: A bibliometric review.

Pinellia ternata has been widely recognized as a traditional Chinese medicine for its use in digestive system diseases and cancers. Furthermore, its good clinical efficacy, excellent safety, and limited side effects have attracted growing interest from research institutions in China, South Korea, the United States, and Japan, resulting in a surge of associated studies. However, the information remains scattered, lacking systematic summaries. This makes it challenging to consolidate the extent of the research progress. Thus, in this study, data from published literature were obtained and assessed to assist researchers in comprehending the current research landscape in the field and to investigate research hotspots and emerging frontiers. Two English databases were employed to search and download the literature on P ternata research published from 2004 to 2025. We used VOSviewer, Microsoft Excel, and CiteSpace to visually analyze annual publishing trends, publishing countries, institutions, authors, journals, keywords, and references in the field. We retrieved 488 papers. Publications have increased annually, particularly in 2024. China, South Korea, the United States, and Japan take the lead in this field of research. Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine produced the largest number of papers. The Journal of Ethnopharmacology contained the most publications. The most prolific authors are Xue Jianping and Xue Tao. Keywords with the highest frequency were P. ternata, expression, banxia xiexin decoction, and network pharmacology. Twelve clusters and twenty-five burst keywords were generated. To date, 3 areas have been the primary subject of this field's research: research on related classic prescriptions and their applications, research on pharmacological components and mechanisms of action, and research on cultivation and quality control. Furthermore, research on microscopization, normalization, standardization, and objectification of traditional Chinese medicine has also been developing.