From chitin to climate-smart agriculture: a bibliometric analysis of chitosan nanoparticle applications in crop stress mitigation

This bibliometric study systematically evaluates global research trends on chitosan (CS) and chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) in enhancing plant resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses. Utilizing the Web of Science Core Collection database, we analyzed 1,073 publications from 2004 to 2025 using bibliometric tools including R (bibliometrix package), VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and HistCite. The analysis revealed an annual growth rate of 15.27%, with 98% of publications emerging in the last decade. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (51 publications, 1,883 citations, h-index=23) and Carbohydrate Polymers (22 publications, 1,312 citations, h-index=17) were the most prominent sources. India (4,895 total citations) and China (4,631 citations) dominated research output, while France (69.00 average citations per article) demonstrated highest citation efficiency. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identified distinct thematic evolution from postharvest applications (2004–2010) to mechanistic stress physiology (2010–2018) and nano-enabled sustainable agriculture (2018–2025). Despite substantial progress, gaps remain in field-scale validation, economic feasibility assessment, and long-term ecological impact studies. This study provides the first comprehensive bibliometric mapping of CS/CNP research in crop stress management, offering strategic insights for future research directions in sustainable agriculture.