Scientific Landscape of Plant-Based Fermentation and Probiotics: Insights from a Bibliometric Study

This study aims to analyze the development, research trends, and thematic interrelationships of plant-based fermented probiotics through a bibliometric approach. Despite the growing interest in plant-based probiotic products due to their health benefits and sustainability potential, a comprehensive mapping of research trends and thematic structures in this field remains limited. Therefore, this study provides a systematic overview of the scientific landscape of plant-based fermented probiotic research. Data were collected from the Scopus database, covering 256 publications published between 2020 and 2025. Bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer software to examine keyword co-occurrence patterns and identify major research themes.  The results revealed [number]keywords that met the inclusion criteria and formed four interconnected research clusters. The blue cluster focuses on food microbiology and fermented beverages, emphasizing the safety, quality, and potential of plant-based fermented products. The green cluster is associated with lactic acid bacteria and functional foods, highlighting nutritional value and sensory characteristics. The red cluster reflects studies on probiotic mechanisms, antimicrobial activity, and fermentation processes, while the yellow cluster explores the relationships among the microbiome, digestion, and human health. Keywords such as “probiotics,” “lactic acid bacteria,” and “probiotic agents” exhibited the highest occurrence frequencies, indicating their central role within the research network.  These findings demonstrate that research on plant-based fermented probiotics is increasingly evolving toward a multidisciplinary field that integrates food microbiology, biotechnology, nutrition, and health sciences. This study contributes by identifying key research themes, revealing their interconnections, and highlighting emerging directions for future investigation. The results provide valuable insights for researchers and industry stakeholders in developing innovative probiotic-based functional food products and establishing future research priorities in this rapidly expanding field.