Objective CiteSpace and VOSviewer softwares were used to conduct a visualized analysis of the current status of research on Gentiana worldwide, so as to predict its future research hotspots and developmental trends based on bibliometric methods. Methods Relevant literatures on Gentiana from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2025 were retrieved from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection databases. After manually excluding duplicate and ineligible literatures and standardizing keywords, Excel, VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used to perform visualized analyses on the annual publication volume, publication journals, institutions, authors, countries and keywords of Chinese and English literatures in the field of Gentiana, respectively. Results A total of 7 449 eligible literature were retrieved, including 6 121 Chinese literature and 1 328 English literature. The annual publication volume of Chinese literature showed a fluctuating trend, while that of English literature presented a rapid upward trend. The Chinese and English journals publishing the most Gentiana-related studies were Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs (114 publications) and Journal of Ethnopharmacology (44 publications), respectively. The authors with the highest publication outputs were Wang Yuanzhong (61 publications) and Zhang Ji (27 publications). The institutions with the largest number of Chinese and English publications were Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine (118 publications) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (110 publications), respectively. The top three countries in terms of the number of articles published were China (709 publications), India (111 publications), and Japan (105 publications). The keyword analysis revealed that the current research hotspots mainly focused on the analysis of compound formulations, clinical applications, species identification, chemical composition, pharmacological effects, and mechanisms of action related to the Gentiana genus. In addition, traditional Chinese medicine preparations containing Gentiana have also been used to treat symptoms such as coughing and wheezing in patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion Research on the Gentiana genus both domestically and internationally is currently showing an overall upward trend. In recent years, studies are gradually shifting from the single analysis of chemical components and pharmacological effects to the exploration of “multi-components and multi-targets” synergistic mechanisms. This research is deeply integrating modern technological methods such as genomics, molecular docking, and network pharmacology, providing important directions for the analysis of the efficacy mechanisms and innovative applications of Gentiana-related species. Future research in this field can also promote the precision and multi-layered development of Gentiana studies by strengthening international collaboration and deepening the integration of modern technologies.

Gentiana L.  /  gentiopicroside  /  CiteSpace  /  VOSviewer  /  visualized analysis  /  bibliometrics