The genus Aloe: A bibliometric analysis of global research outputs (2001–2020) and summary of recent research reports on its biological activities

Abstract

The genus Aloe has attracted considerable research attention in the last two decades owing to its ethnomedicinal, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical importance. This review aimed to evaluate the performance of research outputs, identify evolving trends and research hotspots, and present a detailed summary of recent research reports on the biological and clinical activities of Aloe species of the last two decades. Two databases (Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection) were searched to identify relevant literature on Aloe species spanning 2001 to 2020. The search and retrieval approaches were TITLE-ABS-KEY (Aloe) and TS (Biological AND Activit*). RStudio Inc. 1.1.463 and VOSviewer 1.6.15 were used to analyze the main bibliometric indicators such as annual publication evolution and trend, contributing authors, articles, countries, journals, collaborative network, and thematic domains. Information on biological and clinical activities was retrieved from relevant articles from January 2001 to September 2021 from different databases. A total of 8192 documents were retrieved. The number of publications in the study period showed an increasing trend, with a mean annual growth rate of 5%. India was the most productive country and had the greatest collaborative strength on Aloe research. Articles were predominantly published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology. Gideon F. Smith made the most significant contributions to Aloe research. Three thematic research domains were identified: (i) pharmacological/toxicological studies, (ii) traditional/medicinal uses, and (iii) nutraceutical and cosmetic studies. Recent biological investigations were mainly in vitro and in vivo and focused on antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, wound-healing, antimalarial, antioxidant, analgesic, laxative, anti-erythema, and anti-skin wrinkling effects. The majority of human clinical investigations in the last two decades have been conducted using A. vera leaf gel. The results from the biological activities confirm that Aloe is indeed a promising medicinal genus. However, there is a need for more clinical trials to be conducted on different species and isolated bioactive compounds in this genus.