Structure and Trends of Worldwide Research on Durum Wheat by Bibliographic Mapping

Abstract

The bibliometric mapping approach is a quantitative methodology to analyze the structure and evolution of research activities in a scientific area or a discipline. The objective of the current study was to perform a bibliometric analysis of the worldwide durum wheat literature published from 1961 to 2022 to identify topics and trends and their evolution over time. A total of 7512 documents were analyzed to generate bibliometric maps illustrating the main research topics. Most of the articles (91.6%) were published in indexed journals, with a low percentage (3.4%) in conference proceedings. The most active journals were the Journal of Cereal Science, Euphytica, Theoretical and Applied Genetics, Cereal Research Communications, and Cereal Chemistry. Italy, the USA, Canada, Spain, and France were the countries publishing the most documents. Research interests were focused on mutagenesis, interspecific hybridization, and technological quality in 1961–1980 and moved to conservation farming, molecular genetics, and nutritional quality in the last two decades. Future durum wheat production is facing challenges from climate change, water scarcity, and rising demand for sustainable food production. Advancements in molecular breeding techniques, genome editing, precision agriculture, and conservation farming can expedite wheat improvement and pave the way toward a healthier environment. The analysis of a large amount of bibliographic data provides useful information for researchers and policymakers and represents a starting point for a comprehensive discussion for future research.