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Topic · Complementary and alternative medicine

Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants

Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants is a research topic within Complementary and alternative medicine. Science Explorer counts 15k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the therapeutic potential of Ayurvedic medicine, focusing on plants like Withania somnifera, Ocimum sanctum, and Terminalia chebula. The research covers a wide range of applications including immunomodulation, antioxidant effects, cancer inhibition, and neuroprotection. These studies provide scientific insights into the traditional use of herbal extracts for various health benefits.

  • Withania somnifera
  • Ocimum sanctum
  • Terminalia chebula
  • Immunomodulatory
  • Antioxidant
  • Cancer
  • Neuroprotective
  • Traditional Medicine
  • Herbal Extracts
  • Therapeutic Applications
Research works
15k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+53%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
India
79% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants

This ranks research output and citation impact. It says nothing about the quality of diagnosis, treatment or care.

Which countries lead Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants research?

By volume, India and the United States publish the most (4.2k and 292 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 India 4.2k works
  2. 2 United States 292 works
  3. 3 China 183 works
  4. 4 Indonesia 149 works
  5. 5 Nigeria 121 works
  6. 6 Pakistan 88 works
  7. 7 Brazil 78 works
  8. 8 Egypt 78 works
  9. 9 Saudi Arabia 62 works
  10. 10 Iran 55 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

India: 79.3%United States: 5.5%China: 3.4%Indonesia: 2.8%6 others listed: 9.0%79%largest
India4,237 · 79.3%United States292 · 5.5%China183 · 3.4%Indonesia149 · 2.8%6 others listed482 · 9.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants research?

By volume in 2022-now, Desh Bhagat Ayurvedic College and Hospital publishes the most Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants research, followed by National Institute of Ayurveda and Government Ayurvedic College and Hospital.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Desh Bhagat Ayurvedic College and HospitalIndia 270 works
  2. 2 National Institute of AyurvedaIndia 233 works
  3. 3 Government Ayurvedic College and HospitalIndia 227 works
  4. 4 University of CalicutIndia 222 works
  5. 5 Government Ayurved College, NandedIndia 193 works
  6. 6 Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara College of Ayurveda and HospitalIndia 94 works
  7. 7 Ministry of AYUSHIndia 83 works
  8. 8 J. S. Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya and P.D. Patel Ayurveda HospitalIndia 70 works
  9. 9 Uttarakhand Ayurved UniversityIndia 69 works
  10. 10 Banaras Hindu UniversityIndia 66 works

Who are the leading researchers in Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants include Amirhossein Sahebkar, Frank J. Gonzalez and Bharat Bhushan Aggarwal.

  1. 1 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran 258k citations
  2. 2 Frank J. Gonzalez United States 153k citations
  3. 3 Bharat Bhushan Aggarwal United States 142k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants?

The most cited paper in Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants is "CURCUMIN: THE INDIAN SOLID GOLD" (Bharat Bhushan Aggarwal, Chitra Sundaram, Nikita Malani et al., 2007), with 1,654 citations. Next come "The Therapeutic Potential of Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors" (1,378) and "Screening of some Indian medicinal plants for their antimicrobial properties" (1,013).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 CURCUMIN: THE INDIAN SOLID GOLD Bharat Bhushan Aggarwal, Chitra Sundaram, Nikita Malani et al. · Advances in experimental medicine and biology Book chapter 6 Aug 2007 1,654
2 The Therapeutic Potential of Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors László Virág, Csaba Szabó · Pharmacological Reviews Sep 2002 1,378
3 Screening of some Indian medicinal plants for their antimicrobial properties Iqbal Ahmad, Zafar Mehmood, Faiz Mohammad · Journal of Ethnopharmacology Sep 1998 1,013
4 Indian Herbs and Herbal Drugs Used for the Treatment of Diabetes Manisha A. Modak, Priyanjali Dixit, Jayant Londhe et al. · Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition Open access 2007 989
5 Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Comparative Overview Bhushan Patwardhan, Dnyaneshwar Warude, Palpu Pushpangadan et al. · Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Open access 2005 848
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants research done?

The largest centres of Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants research in 2022-now are Amloh (India), New Delhi (India), Jaipur (India) and Guwahati (India). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Siddāpur, Hassan and Amloh.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 AmlohIndia 274 works
  2. 2 New DelhiIndia 271 works
  3. 3 JaipurIndia 263 works
  4. 4 GuwahatiIndia 250 works
  5. 5 MalappuramIndia 226 works
  6. 6 ChennaiIndia 206 works
  7. 7 NandedIndia 205 works
  8. 8 PuneIndia 125 works
  9. 9 BengaluruIndia 119 works
  10. 10 Dehra DūnIndia 99 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. SiddāpurIN · 49.8 works790×
  2. HassanIN · 94.0 works555×
  3. AmlohIN · 274.1 works521×
  4. JamnagarIN · 65.2 works290×
  5. MalappuramIN · 226.4 works266×
  6. NadiādIN · 71.1 works235×
  7. NandedIN · 204.8 works201×
  8. HaridwarIN · 51.4 works123×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants than the world average.

See Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants on the map

Where is the best place to study Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants?

Among universities, judged by research, King Saud University, Saveetha University and Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 17.51%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →King Saud UniversityAcademy of Scientifi…Saveetha UniversityUniversity of Calicut
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 66.539.7%2.3×12 +85.6%
2Saveetha UniversityIndia 56.522.4%7.2×36 +68.0%
3Academy of Scientific and Innovative ResearchIndia 55.925.6%7.7×12 +82.7%
4University of CalicutIndia 52.01.4%252.3×222 +176.6%
5National Institute of AyurvedaIndia 51.82.1%811.0×233 +104.7%
6Government Ayurved College, NandedIndia 49.71.3%804.4×193 +62.8%
7Banaras Hindu UniversityIndia 49.17.7%16.2×66 +20.4%
8Cairo UniversityEgypt 47.927.7%2.4×10 +119.4%
9SRM Institute of Science and TechnologyIndia 46.023.9%2.6×14 +271.3%
10University of DelhiIndia 43.923.3%3.6×13 +81.9%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants, country by country

Is Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 53% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.022% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants0.024% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants11.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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