Objective To reveal an intuitive understanding of the academic context and evolutionary trends of the pungent studies based on Chili peppers and Sichuan peppers, as well as their key pungent components. Methods Over 10000 articles in the core database of the Web of Science over the past decade had been taken as the research object, and the current status and hotspots of pungent research had been compared and analyzed using the bibliometric analysis methods. Results The pungent study presents a continuous trend of the interdisciplinary integration, where many fields were involved such as plant science, food science and technology, biochemistry and molecular biology, pharmacology and pharmacy, neuroscience and chemistry, and the focuses of the pungent studies were quite different. The number of the publications on the pungent (Là) research was much higher than that on pungent (Má) research. China was the country that had the highest number of publications in the field of both pungent researches, especially in the pungent (Má) research, where China occupied a leading position in the aspects like international cooperation and the influence of the author and research institution. The hot topics and burst keywords in pungent studies had been further revealed through the co-occurrence, clustering and burst occurrence analysis of keywords. Conclusion Currently, the commonality lies in the research on the pungency and biological activity of Sichuan peppers or Chili pepper and their main components. The difference is that the pungent (Là) research mainly focuses on the health and quality of Chili peppers and related foods, while the pungent (Má) research focuses more on the pungency, quality and health effects of Sichuan peppers and its key components. The theoretical basis can be provided for the experts and scholars in the fields of plant science, food science and technology, pharmacy and medicine to grasp the current situation, laws and directions of the pungent research.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |