INTRODUCTION:

Phytoactives are bioactive compounds that are derived from plants that exhibit significant pharmacological activities, making them vital in the natural product research. Phytoactives show a promising role in medicines and nutraceuticals as they demonstrate several biological activities with an exceptional safety index¹. However, many phytoactives show poor in vivo activities in spite having prominent in vitro activities. A notable disadvantage of phytoactives is their poor bioavailability, which limits their therapeutic efficacy and absorption in body². The challenges of solubility, bioavailability, and pharmacological efficacy of these phytoactives have led to the development of many novel drug delivery technologies. One such promising drug delivery technology is phytosome technology, which came into focus in 1989. This technique was developed and patented by Indena S.P.A. in Italy.

The company claimed that the technology improved the bioavailability of selective phytomedicines significantly. The word phytosome is derived from Greek words “phyto,” which means “plant” and word “some” which means “body or cell-like structure.” Thus, phytosomes can be defined as conglomerates or complexes of herbal constituents and phospholipids that are developed using their stoichiometric ratios in a particular solvent³. The phytoconstituents get anchored with a lipid polar head by hydrogen bonding formation forming complexes. The complexes have marked lipophilic character improving oral and topical absorption of phytoconstituents when compared to the conventional plant actives⁴.

Bibliometric analysis is a systematic examination of scientific literature aimed at identifying patterns, trends, and impacts within a specific field or domain. Key steps encompass data acquisition from pertinent databases, data cleaning and refinement, and application of diverse bibliometric techniques—subsequently generating meaningful information⁵. Bibliometric analysis is a popular and comprehensive strategy for scrutinizing and evaluating extensive scientific data⁶. It is increasingly adopted in research⁷. It serves as a resource for understanding the methods and approaches applicable to research studies, especially within academic disciplines^8,9. The research development of phytosomes in the delivery of phytoactives can be known by conducting the bibliometric analysis using the collection of scientific publications related to the phytosome preparations.

This examination seeks to perform a comprehensive review of the existing literature regarding use of phytosomes in phytoactive delivery through a bibliometric analysis approach. The study aims to provide researchers with enhanced insights into the research trends and developments in phytosome technology. The study shall include performance analysis and science mapping analysis.

A comprehensive bibliometric analysis in the development of phytosomes for the delivery of phytoactives has yet to be conducted. This study is the first of its kind that seeks to explore the conceptual framework of phytosome technology-assisted phytoactive delivery through a retrospective examination of publication trends, contributing institutions, authors, countries, sources, publication/ articles, co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and co-occurrence networks. The bibliometric study in conjunction with network analysis has the potential to contribute to the development of phytosome formulations in the future ensuring improved phytoactive delivery.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Data source and data searching method:

The data used in the study was retrieved from Web of Science (WoS) database (https://www-webofscience-com) on 19^th November 2024. The timeframe spanning from 1989 to 2025 was covered in the investigation. The articles in English and those of document type were selected. The WoS searches used “phytosome or herbosome or naturosomes or phospholipid complex or phyto-phospholipid complex” and “phytoactive or plant active or phytoconstituent or plant constituent or plant chemical or phytochemical or phytocompound or plant compound or plant extract or herbal extract or botanical extract or plant product or plant extracted product or plant bioactive or herbal bioactive” as keywords. The data was subjected to a thorough cleaning and verification process of eliminating duplicate data and to confirm that the collected articles focused on phytosomal formulations for the delivery of phytoactives. The accuracy and appropriateness of retrieved articles was confirmed about use of phytosomes in phyto-drug delivery. Searches for articles and /or abstract were conducted to verify the appropriate article. The data was exported as a CSV file or delimited file format.

Data analysis:

The CSV export reports were analyzed with help of the VOSviewer version 1.6.20 developed at Leiden University by Centre for Science and Technology Studies. The tool aided in development and representation of bibliometric networks. Also, it facilitated the process of text mining to build and illustrate co-occurrence networks of significant terms extracted from the articles. The data was also analyzed using bibliometrix package (R version 4.4.2) in RStudio 2024.09.1 build 394 package¹⁰.

RESULTS:

A total of 290 documents were retrieved from the WoS search engine using the mentioned keywords. The documents were then refined for English language articles offering 286 articles. The documents that did not discuss phytosomes as phyto-drug delivery system were excluded. A total of 132 articles were obtained. The steps of research article search can be observed in fig.1.

A bibliometric analysis was conducted on phytosome technology in the context of phytoactive drug delivery. This analysis aims to elucidate and map the knowledge concepts pertinent to the progression of research focused on phytoactive delivery through phytosomal formulations utilizing the WoS database¹¹. The prominent techniques in bibliometric evaluation analysis are performance analysis and science mapping. The contribution of research investigators/ participants and authors from various countries, affiliated research or academic institutions, sources, who contribute in the research article production are taken in to consideration in performance analysis. In the interim, the science mapping illustrates the interconnections among the intellectual aspects of research elements including citation, co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and analyses of keywords¹².

Fig. 1: Illustration of sequential steps in the process of searching articles

Descriptive bibliometric analysis:

Table 1 presents data on 132 articles published through the year 2025, sourced from WoS. The description of data obtained, authors and document types of articles can be observed in the table which was obtained from RStudio.

Table 1: Data search results via Web of Science search engine

Data		Description				Results
Documents		Total number of articles included				132
Timespan/ Period		Years of Publication				2001- 2025
Sources		The distribution of sources by frequency				96
Annual Growth Rate %		Percent increase in documents year-wise				2.93
Mean citations per document		The mean count of citations found within each article				39.43
References		citations in articles				8704
Author's Keywords (DE)		Total number of keywords selected by the author				453
Keywords Plus (ID)		The count of words/ phrases which commonly appear in titles of an article’s references but are absent from the title of the article itself				549
AUTHORS
Single-authored document		Count of articles with a single author				3
Authors		Total count of authors				696
Co-Authors per document		Mean count of co-authors in each document				5.58
International co-authorship percent		Percent of collaborative authorship across international borders				25
TYPE OF DOCUMENT
Article: 77	Early access article: 2		Proceedings paper article: 2	Review: 47	Early access: review: 4

Bibliometric analysis of publication trend:

Table 2 illustrates the trends in publication and the mean total citations (MTC) per article, obtained using RStudio.

Table 2: Trends in Publication data using RStudio

Year	Mean Total Citation per Article	Number of articles	Mean Total Citation per Year	Citable Years
2001	73.00	1	3.04	24
2005	219.00	1	10.95	20
2007	1.00	1	0.06	18
2009	74.20	5	4.64	16
2010	139.80	5	9.32	15
2011	87.25	4	6.23	14
2012	66.50	2	5.12	13
2013	98.00	2	8.17	12
2014	57.38	8	5.22	11
2015	18.67	3	1.87	10
2016	66.67	6	7.41	9
2017	37.60	5	4.70	8
2018	82.91	11	11.84	7
2019	54.67	6	9.11	6
2020	16.86	7	3.37	5
2021	22.69	13	5.67	4
2022	16.94	18	5.65	3
2023	5.12	16	2.56	2
2024	1.25	16	1.25	1
2025	0.50	2	-	0
Average	57.00	6.60	5.59	9.90

Bibliometric analysis of contributing countries:

The RStudio analysis of contributing countries revealed that the research on phytosome technology for delivery of phytoactives was done in 25 countries. The collaboration map detailing the countries engaged in research on the phytosome for delivery of phytoactives can be observed in Figure 2a. The intensity of blue hue on the map correlates with higher number of articles published by the country. The pink colour lines denote the collaborative affiliations of each author in various countries. Fig.2b displays twenty countries with the highest citation counts.

Fig. 2: (a) Map illustrating international collaboration from 2001 to 2025; (b) Countries with most citations; (c) Top sources and their H-index

Bibliometric analysis of contributing institutions

Research on phytosome technology was done in 290 different contributing institutions. The bibliometric analysis was done using VOSviewer using full counting method. This technique gives one credit to each contributing author¹³. A single article with five authors has a total of five credits. Seven institutions met minimum of three articles based on full counting method. Table 3 illustrates most productive seven institutions.

Bibliometric analysis of contributing source:

The articles on phytosome technology used in delivery of phytoactives were published in 96 sources (journals), according to the VOSviewer analysis of contributing source. The top 10 data sources that published atleast three articles are listed in table 4, while the top 10 data sources according to their H-index are represented in fig.2c.

Table 4: Top 10 data sources that published atleast three articles

Sr. No	Source	Articles	Citations	Average citation per article
1	Drug Delivery	4	166	41.5
2	Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Education and Research	4	66	16.5
3	Alternative Medicine Review	3	465	155
4	Current Drug Delivery	3	3	1
5	Current Drug Targets	3	64	21.3
6	Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy	3	55	18.3
7	Fitoterapia	3	570	190
8	International Journal of Nanomedicine	3	152	50.7
9	Nutrients	3	54	18
10	Pharmaceutics	3	106	35.3

In fig.3a, the correlations between three fields i.e. between author affiliations (AU_UN), Source (SO) and author’s country (AU_CO) can be observed in three-field plot. The analysis of top twenty items was done using RStudio. A darker line links the three fields. The rectangle size corresponds to the quantity of associated articles within a field. Increased length of rectangle corresponds to increased quantity of articles in the field.

Bibliometric analysis of Contributing Authors and bibliographic coupling:

The analysis was done using RStudio. Top nine corresponding author’s countries and corresponding author’s impact are presented in table 5 and table 6 respectively. Multiple country publications ratio was determined.

Table 6: Top nine most productive authors with impact using RStudio

Authors	H-index	G-index	Total Citations	Number of Publications
Ajazuddin	3	3	536	3
Allegrini Pietro	3	3	52	3
Mukherjee Pulok K.	3	3	158	3
Petrangolini Giovanna	3	3	52	3
Riva Antonella	3	3	52	3
Semalty Ajay	3	3	246	3
Semalty Mona	3	3	246	3
Gayen Jiaur R.	2	3	22	3
Saraf Swarnlata	2	3	226	3

Bibliographic coupling was conducted to analyse contributing authors and research network using VOSviewer by full counting method. The analysis focused on authors who had atleast 3 published articles that were connected to other authors. 9 authors were selected using this method. Two author clusters were identified as observed in fig.3b.

Fig. 3: (a) Three-fields plot between author affiliations (AU_UN), Source journal (SO) and Country of author (AU_CO); (b) Bibliometric coupling for analysing contributing author and research network; (c) Overlay visualization using VOSviewer (All Keywords); (d) Trend of research topics year-wise

Bibliometric analysis of contributing paper and co-citation:

The bibliographic coupling analysis conducted using the full counting method with document analysis unit in VOSviewer revealed that there were 117 articles with minimum one citation from the total of 132 articles. Merely 11.36% of papers remained uncited, suggesting that most articles exert effect on subsequent publications. The table 7 enlists 5 articles that are most cited.

Table 7: Five most cited contributing paper using VOSviewer

Sr. No.	Article title	Source	Author	Citations
1	Advances in micro and nano-encapsulation of bioactive compounds using biopolymer and lipid-based transporters	Trends in Food Science and Technology	Shishir MRI, 2018¹⁴	372
2	Applications of novel drug delivery system for herbal formulations	Fitoterapia	Ajazuddin, 2010¹⁵	311
3	Silybin and the liver: From basic research to clinical practice	World Journal of Gastroenterology	Loguercio C, 2011¹⁶	277
4	Curcumin: A new candidate for melanoma therapy?	International Journal of Cancer	Mirzaei H, 2016¹⁷	232
5	A Review of the bioavailability and clinical efficacy of milk thistle phytosome: a Silybin-phosphatidylcholine complex (Siliphos®)	Alternative Medicine Review	Kidd P, 2005 ¹⁸	219

Table 8: Top three most cited co-citation reference

Sr. No.	Author	Source	Title	Citations
1	Yanyu X, 2006²⁰	International Journal of Pharmaceutics	The preparation of silybin- phospholipid complex and the study on its pharmacokinetics in rats	33
2	Maiti K, 2007²¹	International Journal of Pharmaceutics	Curcumin-phospholipid complex: Preparation, therapeutic evaluation, and pharmacokinetic study in rats	30
3	Khan J, 2013²²	Journal of Controlled Release	Recent advances and future prospects of phyto-phospholipid complexation technique for improving pharmacokinetic profile of plant actives	25

Bibliometric analysis of co-citation:

The examination of co-citation conducted with VOSviewer software revealed a total of 8689 cited references. Co-citations were examined by fractional counting method. In this method the articles which have co-authors are computed fractionally for each author and the total weight of the paper is considered as one¹⁹. By employing one reference cited in a minimum of ten articles, 29 references were obtained. Table 8 presents the three most frequently referred articles pertaining to phytosomal preparations.

Bibliometric analysis of keyword co-occurrence:

Using VOSviewer, keyword co-occurrence analysis was done across “All keywords” as unit of analysis using full counting method²³. The “All keywords” category comprises of both indexed keywords and author keywords. The analysis facilitates the mapping of current or prospective research fields for phytosome formulations based on the published articles. The number of articles that are shown when specific keyword is searched is indicated by occurrence²⁴. While performing keyword co-occurrence analysis total number of keywords examined were 933. The duplicate keywords with similar meanings were eliminated. The words such as “anti-inflammatory” and “anti-inflammatory,” “mechanism” and “mechanisms,” “phytosome” and “phytosomes,” “skin delivery” and “topical delivery,” and so on were filtered. The keywords were filtered with the thesaurus decreasing the number of keywords to 883. The count of keywords that appeared minimum 10 times was 25. Based on time division the co-occurrence network can be seen in Fig.3c. The network displays four clusters which are closely related.

Bibliometric analysis of research trend:

The development and trend of phytosome research based on authors’ keywords that have appeared atleast 5 times in a single year from 2001 to 2025 is illustrated in Fig.3d with the help of RStudio.

DISCUSSION:

The bibliometric analysis revealed 132 papers concerning research on phytosome technology used for delivery of phytoactives. From analysis of performance, 696 authors participated in the phytosomal research from 38 countries from year 2001 to year 2025. The annual publication of articles increased after 2008 and was highest in year 2022(18 articles) followed by 2023 and 2024(16 articles). The average citations per document was reasonably high (39.43) as observed in table 1. Table 2 indicates that the highest mean total citation (MTC) per document was recorded in 2005 (219.00 points), implying that one publication published in 2005 was cited or used as referenced by 219 other research publications. The second highest MTC per document was in 2010 (139.80 points) and third highest in 2013 (98 points). An elevated MTC per document suggests that many documents served as references for researchers during that year and so did their articles in the subsequent years²⁵.

In bibliometric analysis of contributing countries, it was observed that the highest frequency of collaborative work from two distinct countries was between India and Saudi Arabia which was seven times (fig.2a). A higher number of citations correlates with a country’s growing dominance in article publication in specific research area. India (1291), China (1120) and Iran (716) are the three countries with most citations reflecting their focus on research on phytosome formulation for phytoactive delivery (fig.2b).

The bibliometric analysis of contributing institutions depicts the link among the institutions that coordinate to generate an article^26,27. The analysis showed 7 contributing institutions based on full counting method which are interconnected and have published minimum three articles. Indena S.P.A, Italy published most articles (5 articles) (table 3), followed by Mashhad University of Medical Science, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran and Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia which published 4 articles each. Also, Mashhad University of Medical Science, Razavi Khorasan Province contributed in publishing the most influential articles relative to various other organizations, amassing highest citations at 416 with average citation of 104.4 per article. Following this were Indena, S.P.A. Italy (308 citations) and HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar India (246 citations).

Bibliometric evaluation of contributing source revealed 96 sources published the articles on phytosome technology. A higher quantity of published articles in a source indicates its increased relevance for disseminating research on phytosome technology-based delivery of phytoactives. The major sources that published minimum 3 articles in a source are displayed in table 4. They are namely Drug Delivery (4 articles), Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (4 articles), Alternative Medicine Review (3 articles), Current Drug Delivery (3 articles), Current Drug Targets (3 articles), Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy (3 articles), Fitoterapia (3 articles), International Journal of Nanomedicine (3 articles), Nutrients (3 articles) and Pharmaceutics (3 articles). The Fitoterapia had the highest impact on the development of phytosomal preparations for phytoactive delivery demonstrable by highest citations (570 citations) and average citations per article (190) (table 4). However, based on the H-index (fig.2c), Drug Delivery journal exhibited the greatest impact having an H-index of 4 followed by Fitoterapia, Alternative Medicine Review, Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, International Journal of Nanomedicine, and Nutrients (H-index = 3). The identification of the relevant sources plays a crucial role in aiding the research authors in the publication of their research findings aligned with the subject matter specified in the respective source.

The three-field plot as illustrated in fig.3a, examined the 20 leading author affiliations, article sources, and countries of origin for publications concerning on phytosomal preparations for delivery of phytoactives²⁸. Analysis of incoming flow indicated that five of the top twenty author affiliations – Central Drug Research Institute, India; Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College; Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India; Xiamen University and King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia- submitted articles to Drug Delivery journal. The analysis of outgoing flow indicated that the Drug Delivery journal published articles authored from 3 of the 20 countries, which are India, China, and Saudi Arabia.

RStudio was used for analysing corresponding authors, their country of origin and author impact. Table 5 indicates top 9 countries of corresponding authors. It was observed that many of the contributing authors originated from India followed by China and Italy. Also, a significant number of corresponding authors in a country suggests that the resources of the country support the research and publication on phytosome preparations. Table 5 further delineates the degree of collaboration encompassing intra-country (SCP) and intercountry (MCP) collaboration. The number of SCPs and MCPs can be used to investigate cross-national collaboration patterns and provide information about international partnerships. MCP promotes technology harmonization and widens research opportunities. The MCP of India was highest with eight articles followed by Iran (5 MCP articles), Saudi Arabia (4 MCP articles) and Portugal (4 MCP articles).

Besides the author’s impact, the influence of the author can be measured by the H-index and G-index as depicted in table 6. Although H-index is commonly used metric for measuring the impact and productivity of a researcher, G-index gives more significance to highly-cited publications²⁹. The articles on phytosomal preparation for delivery of phytoactives was published by seven authors that had the H-index of 3. This indicates no dominant work of any one author. Nine authors have an average of three research articles. The most influential work was done by Ajazuddin whose articles received maximum citations of 536. Ajazuddin’s articles were mostly about phytopharmaceuticals which described pharmaceutical nanotechnologies and targeting techniques for delivery of herbal extracts and phytoactives^30-32. This information shall aid other researchers for developing and discussing the research findings with similar interests.

The quantity of citations garnered by an article reflects the research study having substantial impact. The higher number of citations an article garners, the higher is its influence on research on phytosome technology used for delivery of phytoactives. Table 7 enlists the top five most contributing articles. The most influential article was written by Shishir MRI et al., 2018¹⁴. The article emphasizes the current advancement in the micro and nano-encapsulation of bioactive substances. The article identified phytosome as a promising food-grade delivery system capable of improving solubility and stability of polyphenols and hence facilitate their use as vehicles for bioactive compounds. The second most influential article was written by Ajazuddin et al., 2010¹⁵. The paper highlighted advantages of phytosome and asserted their emergence as an advancement in delivery of herbal medications and nutraceuticals. The article described various marketed phytosomal herbal formulations and their applications. Phytosomes exhibit superior bioavailability relative to conventional plant actives primarily because of their improved capacity to transverse lipoidal bio membranes, ultimately reaching systemic circulation. They have been used in a broad range of biological activities like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cardio-protective, hepatoprotective, anti-cancer, and immunomodulator. The third influential article was by Loguercio C, et al. 2011¹⁶. The article discussed the potential use of silybin in chronic liver disease and reported that silybin phytosome has higher bioavailability.

When a third paper cites two publications, it elucidates the link between the cited works which constitutes the basic research theme. The co-citation relation between two articles increases when the number of articles referencing both the articles increases. The analysis of co-citation facilitates the identification of the foremost impactful published papers to form thematic clusters³³. The most co-cited article was of Xiou Y et. Al. 2006. The research article discussed silybin phytosomes preparation and their in vivo studies conducted in rats which resulted in impressive improvement in biological activity of silybin. The second most co-cited article was of Maiti K et al. 2006 who prepared curcumin phytosomes to overcome the limitation of low solubility and absorption of curcumin. The resultant formulation proved to have better hepatoprotective activity than plain curcumin.

Based on time division, the keyword co-occurrence network can be seen in fig.3c. The most used keywords were “bioavailability” and “phytosome” with 54 occurrences each. This was followed by “phospholipid complex” (51 occurrences), “antioxidant” (31 occurrences) and “in vitro” (31 occurrences). The keyword co-occurrence network displays four clusters which are related closely. The major keywords in every cluster and the theme interpretation are given in table 9. The first generation of phytosome was developed by coupling polyphenols with phospholipids in non-polar organic solvents³⁴ while, newer phytosomes were prepared using hydro-ethanolic solvents which were safer³⁵. Few literature articles especially those older than 2010, used the term phospholipid complexes for their formulations of phytoactives using phytosome technology^36-38. In an article by Song Y, 2008 the author mentions that phytosome structure is formed when the phospholipid complex is dispersed in aqueous solution³⁹. Recent literature studies however, describe phytosomes as vesicular structures. They are described as conjugates or molecular complexes of phytoactives and phospholipids which could self-assemble in vesicles in aqueous media^40-42.

The research trend in fig.3d illustrates that the research on phytosomes gained momentum after 2010. The excipient more frequently used in formulation was phosphatidylcholine. The phytosome studied extensively for many years was curcumin phytosome which was patented and commercially used. The phytoactives with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were initially chosen for formulating phytosomes. However, current research trend shows a shift towards exploring anticancer activity of phytoactives with aid of phytosome technology. The nano formulations of phytosome have gained boost after 2014. Nanoformulation and targeted drug delivery techniques have opened new dimensions in the phytosome research.

CONCLUSION:

The bibliometric analysis was performed on data obtained from Web of Science related to phytosome technology used in delivery of phytoactives using RStudio and VOSviewer software. The performance analysis aims to facilitate research collaborations with prolific researchers, contributing institutions and countries to promote research on phytosome technology in delivery of phytoactives and contribute in research articles to the contributing journals. The science mapping provides valuable insights for researchers in formulating and deliberating on prospective future studies of phytosome formulation for better delivery of promising phytoactives.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

The authors have no conflicts of interest regarding this investigation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

This work is supported by Women Scientist (WOS-A), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (Sanction no.: DST/WOS-A/LS-73/2020, dated 09.01.2023).

REFERENCES:

1. Gupta P, Gupta S, Sharma M, Kumar N, Pruthi V, Poluri KM. Effectiveness of Phytoactive Molecules on Transcriptional Expression, Biofilm Matrix, and Cell Wall Components of Candida glabrata and Its Clinical Isolates. ACS Omega. 2018; 3(9): 12201-12214. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.8b01856.

2. Singh AK, Singh A. Phyto-Phospholipid Complexes: A Potential Novel Carrier System for Improving Bioavailability of Phytoconstituents. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2020; 13(2): 1059-1066.

3. Pahwa R, Chetna, Saroha K, Bhardwaj BY, Kumar M, Singh I. Insights into various approaches of Phytosomes for Enhanced Therapeutic Potential of Bioactives. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2022; 15(9): 4277-82.

4. Nautiyal V, Roy A, Sahu RK, Fattepur S. Herbosomes: Impressive tool for better Bioavailability and Bioactivity of plant extracts and Botanicals. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2021; 14(1): 471-476.

5. Linnenluecke MK, Marrone M, Singh AK. Conducting systematic literature reviews and bibliometric analyses. Australian Journal of Management. 2020; 45(2): 175–194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0312896219877678.

6. Pawar MS, Chandrappa S. Bibliometric Analysis of Botany Thesis Award by Pt Ravishankar Shukla University Year 1990-2017. Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. 2020; 11(3): 241-246.

7. Sahu HK. A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Journal ‘Asian Journal of Management, 2010 – 2017’. Asian Journal of Management; 2017; 8(4): 1242-1246.

8. Pawar S. Bibliometric: A Research Technique. International Journal of Advances in Social Sciences. 2020; 8(3): 105-110.

9. Mukherjee D, Lim WM, Kumar S, Donthu N. Guidelines for advancing theory and practice through bibliometric research. Journal of Business Research. 2022; 148: 101–115.

10. Aria, M., and Cuccurullo, C. Bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. Journal of Informetrics. 2017; 11(4): 959-975.

11. Kiromah NZW, Sugihartini N, Nuraini LH. A Bibliometric approach for Analyzing the Potential Essential Oil Microemulsions. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2024; 17(1): 259-4

12. Guler AT, Waaijer CJF, Mohammed Y, Palmblad M. Automating bibliometric analyses using Taverna scientific workflows: A tutorial on integrating Web Services. Journal of Infometrics. 2016. 10 (32), 830-841.

13. Bamel UK, Pandey R, Gupta A. Safety climate: Systematic literature network analysis of 38 years (1980–2018) of research. Accident Analysis and Prevention. 2020; 135: 105387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2019.105387.

14. Shishir MRI, Xie L, Sun C, Zheng X, Chen W. Advances in micro and nano-encapsulation of bioactive compounds using biopolymer and lipid-based transporters. Trends in Food Science and Technology. 2018; 78: 34-60.

15. Ajazuddin and Saraf S. Applications of novel drug delivery system for herbal formulations. Fitoterapia. 2010; 81(7): 680-9.

16. Loguercio C, Festi D. Silybin and the liver: from basic research to clinical practice. World Journal of Gastroenterology: WJG. 2011; 17(18): 2288.

17. Mirzaei H, Naseri G, Rezaee R, et al. Curcumin: A new candidate for melanoma therapy? International Journal of Cancer. 2016; 139(8): 1683-95.

18. Kidd P, Head K. A review of the bioavailability and clinical efficacy of milk thistle phytosome: a silybin-phosphatidylcholine complex (Siliphos). Alternative Medicine Review. 2005 Sep 1; 10(3).

19. Sivertsen G, Rousseau R, Zhang L. Measuring scientific contributions with modified fractional counting. Journal of Informetrics 2019; 13(2): 679–694.

20. Yanyu X, Yunmei S, Zhipeng C, Qineng P. The preparation of silybin–phospholipid complex and the study on its pharmacokinetics in rats. International Journal of Pharmaceutics. 2006; 307(1): 77-82.

21. Maiti K, Mukherjee K, Gantait A, Saha BP, Mukherjee PK. Curcumin–phospholipid complex: preparation, therapeutic evaluation and pharmacokinetic study in rats. International Journal of Pharmaceutics. 2007; 330(1-2): 155-63.

22. Khan J, Alexander A, Saraf S, Saraf S. Recent advances and future prospects of phyto-phospholipid complexation technique for improving pharmacokinetic profile of plant actives. Journal of Controlled Release. 2013; 168(1): 50-60.

23. Arifah FH, Nugroho AE, Rohman A, Sujarwo W. A bibliometric analysis of preclinical trials of Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Nees in diabetes mellitus. South African Journal of Botany. 2022 Dec; 151(b): 128-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2021.12.011

24. Adnan, Perwitasari DA, Maliza R. Trend In the Publication of Study on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) In 2012-2020 Period: A Bibliometric Analysis. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2024; 17(3): 1076-2.

25. Fatimah SF, Lukitaningsih E, Martien R, Nugroho AK. Bibliometric analysis of articles on nanoemulsion and/or in-situ gel for ocular drug delivery system published during the 2011–2021 period. Pharmacia. 2022; 69(2): 467-484.

26. Skute I, Zalewska-Kurek K, Hatak I et al. Mapping the field: a bibliometric analysis of the literature on university–industry collaborations. The Journal of Technology Transfer. 2019 Jun 1; 44:916-47.

27. Das P, Tiwari P, Ramesh DB. Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences in India: A Scientometric assessment of research output during 1998-2017. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2019; 12(4): 1551-1558.

28. Van Eck NJ, Waltman L. Visualizing bibliometric networks. In: Measuring Scholarly Impact: Methods. Edited by Ding Y, Rousseau R, and Wolfram D. Springer, 2014; 285-320. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10377-8_13.

29. Huang MH, Chi PS. A comparative analysis of the application of h-index, g-index, and a-index in institutional-level research evaluation. Journal of Library and Information Studies. 2010; 8(2): 1-10.

30. Alexander A and Ajazuddin. Newer Technologies in the Field of Phytopharmaceuticals for the Delivery of Herbal Extracts and Bioactives. Journal of Ravishankar University. 2016 Jul 1;29(1).

31. Khan I, Joshi G, Nakhate KT, Ajazuddin, Kumar R, Gupta U. Nano-co-delivery of berberine and anticancer drug using PLGA nanoparticles: exploration of better anticancer activity and in vivo kinetics. Pharmaceutical Research. 2019 Oct; 36:1-7.

32. Giri TK, Alexander A, Ajazuddin, Barman TK, Maity S. Infringement of the barriers of cancer via dietary phytoconstituents capsaicin through novel drug delivery system. Current Drug Delivery. 2016; 13(1): 27-39.

33. Donthu N, Kumar S, Mukherjee D, Pandey N, Lim WM (2021) How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research 133: 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.070

34. Bombardelli E, Curri SB, Della Loggia R, Del Negro P, Tubaro A, Gariboldi P. Complex between phospholipids and vegetal derivatives of biological interest. Fitoterapia 1989; 60:1–9 [Suppl. to issue N.1].

35. Deleanu M, Toma L, Sanda GM, et al. Formulation of Phytosomes with Extracts of Ginger Rhizomes and Rosehips with Improved Bioavailability, Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Effects In Vivo. Pharmaceutics. 2023; 15(4): 1066. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15041066.

36. Chen ZP, Sun J, Chen HX, Xiao YY, Liu D, Chen J, Cai H, Cai BC. Comparative pharmacokinetics and bioavailability studies of quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin after oral administration of Ginkgo biloba extracts, Ginkgo biloba extract phospholipid complexes and Ginkgo biloba extract solid dispersions in rats. Fitoterapia. 2010 Dec 1; 81(8): 1045-52.

37. Sikarwar, M.S., Sharma, S., Jain, A.K. et al. Preparation, Characterization and Evaluation of Marsupsin–Phospholipid Complex. AAPS PharmSciTech. 2008; 9(1): 129–137.

38. Selvaraju K, Arulkumaran KSG, Karthick K, Prabhu KV, Preetha JP, Arrivukkarasu R. Phytosomes – An Advanced Herbal Technology. Research Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 2011; 3(5): 191-194.

39. Song Y, Zhuang J, Guo J, Xiao Y, Ping Q. Preparation and properties of a silybin-phospholipid complex. Die Pharmazie-An International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2008; 63(1): 35-42.

40. Apolinário AC, Hauschke L, Nunes JR, Lopes LB. Lipid nanovesicles for biomedical applications: What is in a name? Progress in Lipid Research. 2021 Apr 1; 82:101096.

41. Semalty A, Semalty M, Rawat MSM, et al Supramolecular phospholipids–polyphenolics interactions: The PHYTOSOME® Strategy to Improve the Bioavailability of Phytochemicals. Fitoterapia. 2010; 81(5): 306-14.

42. Gondake RD, Pethani DB, Firake SA, Patil JR, Bhujbal AP, Sanap DP. Phytosomes as a Biocompatible Delivery System for Herbal Medicines. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2024; 17(9): 4621-9. doi: 10.52711/0974-360X.2024.00713.

Received on 17.12.2024 Revised on 18.04.2025

Accepted on 25.07.2025 Published on 10.02.2026

Available online from February 16, 2026

Research J. Pharmacy and Technology. 2026;19(2):930-938.

DOI: 10.52711/0974-360X.2026.00132

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Creative Commons License.

Clusters	Keywords	Interpretation of theme
1	Cancer, drug delivery system, formulation, in vitro, nanoparticles, phytochemical	This cluster theme focusses on development of formulations of phytochemicals as drug delivery systems especially for use in cancer treatment and in vitro study.
2	Antioxidant, complex, delivery system, phosphatidylcholine, phospholipid, polyphenols, phytosome	This cluster describes the phytosome delivery system of polyphenols and antioxidant studies. The phosphatidylcholine was the most common phospholipid of choice in phytosome formulations.
3	Absorption, bioavailability, extract, in vivo, pharmacokinetics, phospholipid complex, rat	This cluster highlights improved absorption and bioavailability of phospholipid complex by in vivo and pharmacokinetic studies of formulations using mostly rat models.
4	Curcumin, herbal medicine, silybin phytosome	This cluster theme gives information about phytosome preparations of herbal medicine. More commonly studied phytosomes were that of curcumin and silybin.

Sr. No	Affiliation	Country	Articles	Citations	Mean citation/article
1	Indena S.P.A, Milan	Italy	5	308	61.6
2	Mashhad University of Medical Science, Razavi Khorasan Province	Iran	4	416	104.0
3	Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj	Saudi Arabia	4	44	11.0
4	HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar	India	3	246	82.0
5	University of Milan, Milan	Italy	3	141	47.0
6	Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal	India	3	158	52.7
7	King Saud University, Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	3	39	13.0

Country	Articles	Articles %	Single country publications (SCP)	Multiple country publications (MCP)	MCP ratio [MCP/articles]
India	47	35.6	39	8	0.17
China	14	10.6	14	0	0.00
Italy	13	9.8	11	2	0.15
Iran	11	8.3	6	5	0.45
Saudi Arabia	7	5.3	3	4	0.57
USA	6	4.5	5	1	0.17
Egypt	4	3	2	2	0.50
Portugal	4	3	0	4	1.00
Indonesia	3	2.3	2	1	0.33