Worldwide Research Trends for Chelates in Animal Science: A Bibliometric Analysis

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The application of chelated trace minerals (CTM) in livestock nutrition is an expanding research area with a focus on the health and quality of animal products. The aim of the current study was to conduct a scientometric analysis of the last three decades on CTM application in animal nutrition to point out main sources, most prolific countries, and current and emerging topics. This investigation is descriptive in terms of type and practical in purpose. The findings showed that the words zinc, copper, performance, pig, cattle, metabolism, and bioavailability were prominent words reflecting the hotspots in the chelate field during the investigated time period. The frequencies of the terms health, muscle, bovine, trace elements, and dietary supplements indicate that they are emerging topics in CTM as research has begun to focus on these areas. ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to look at research trends in the application of CTM in animal nutrition in order to identify current and emerging challenges, as well as to examine the intellectual structure of the subject. The intellectual structure of CTM was examined using keyword and reference analysis. The research community includes all research and review articles published in journals indexed in the Web of Science database during the years 1990–2022. The results showed that the terms zinc, co-occurring 331 times, performance (324 times), and copper 216 (times) were the main and hotspots of research in the field of chelate. The data suggest that the most important keywords during the study period were zinc, copper, pig, bovine, metabolism, and bioavailability. The terms health, muscle, beef, trace elements, and dietary supplements represent emerging topics in CTM, as research began to focus on these areas during the years 2017–2022. The country with the greatest number of published articles was the United States of America. This bibliometric analysis showed that countries are focusing on the effects of CTM on the health and musculature of cattle through dietary supplementation with trace elements. According to the identified hot and emerging topics, this research can serve as a roadmap for a global comprehensive scientific plan and policy.