Bibliometric Analysis of Research History, Hotspots, and Emerging Trends on Flax with CiteSpace (2000-2022)

Figures & data

Figure 1. Numbers of articles published per year from 1975 to 2021 (a) and the polynomial fit of numbers of articles published per year with publication years (b).

Figure 2. Main contributors to the research of flax in terms of countries (a), affiliations (b), authors (c), research areas (d), Web of Science categories (e), and journals (f).

Figure 3. Collaborations between the main countries devoted to flax studies (2000–2022).

Figure 4. Keyword co-occurring networks and co-citation clusters for articles (2000–2022).

Table 1. Top 20 high-frequency keywords and related references emerging in articles.

Order	Frequency	Keyword	Reference
1	1516	Mechanical property	(Liu et al. 2012; Waldron and Harwood 2011)
2	1484	Flax fiber	(Andersons, Spārniņš, and Poriķe 2009)
3	817	Behavior	(Petrulis and Petrulyte 2016)
4	681	Natural fiber	(Zimniewska et al. 2012)
5	537	Composite	(Mahendran et al. 2013; Zimniewska et al. 2012)
6	489	Fiber	(Andersons, Spārniņš, and Joffe 2006; Zimniewska et al. 2012)
7	439	Performance	(Ngo et al. 2016)
8	301	Plant	(Guo et al. 2021)
9	294	Cellulose	(Istomin et al. 2016; Yu et al. 2015)
10	289	Strength	(Andersons, Spārniņš, and Joffe 2006; Andersons, Spārniņš, and Poriķe 2009)
11	275	Fatty acid	(Rajan, Sobankumar, and Nair 2014; Rupani et al. 2012)
12	261	Growth	(Rydlová et al. 2010; Zuk et al., 2019a)
13	260	Tensile property	(Petrulis and Petrulyte 2016)
14	242	Quality	(Mańkowski et al. 2015; Mikhailouskaya 2006)
15	224	Tensile	(Petrulis and Petrulyte 2016)
16	223	Biocomposite	(Makhlouf et al. 2020; Paynel et al. 2013)
17	213	Gla	(Rajan et al., 2014b)
18	211	Identification	(Bruno et al. 2020; Day et al. 2013)
19	210	Expression	(Galinousky and Padvitski 2017; Jiang et al. 2021)
20	202	Oil	(Rupani et al. 2012; Rydlová et al. 2010)

Figure 5. Top 23 keywords with strongest citation bursts.

Figure 6. Top 25 cited references with strongest citation bursts.

Liu, Z., S. Z. Erhan, D. E. Akin, F. E. Barton, C. Onwulata, and T. A. McKeon. 2012. Modified flax fibers reinforced soy-based composites: Mechanical properties and water absorption behavior. Composite Interfaces 15 (2–3):207–20. doi:10.1163/156855408783810821.

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Waldron, D., and J. Harwood. 2011. A preliminary investigation into the influence of chemical composition on the dynamic mechanical properties of flax (Linum usitattisimum) straw. Journal of Natural Fibers 8 (2):126–42. doi:10.1080/15440478.2011.577596.

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Andersons, J., E. Spārniņš, and E. Poriķe. 2009. Strength and damage of elementary flax fibers extracted from tow and long line flax. Journal of Composite Materials 43 (22):2653–64. doi:10.1177/0021998309345035.

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Petrulis, D., and S. Petrulyte. 2016. Tensile behavior of the knots for spun yarns of different flax types. Journal of Natural Fibers 13 (6):682–90.

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Zimniewska, M., J. Myalski, M. Koziol, J. Mankowski, and E. Bogacz. 2012. Natural fiber textile structures suitable for composite materials. Journal of Natural Fibers 9 (4):229–39. doi:10.1080/15440478.2012.737176.

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Mahendran, A. R., G. Wuzella, N. Aust, U. Müller, and A. Kandelbaue. 2013. Processing and characterization of natural fibre reinforced composites using lignin phenolic binder. Polymers & Polymer Composites 21 (4):199–206. doi:10.1177/096739111302100401.

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Andersons, J., E. Spārniņš, and R. Joffe. 2006. Stiffness and strength of flax fiber/polymer matrix composites. Polymer Composites 27 (2):221–12. doi:10.1002/pc.20184.

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Ngo, T. D., M. Nofar, M. T. Ton-That, and W. Hu. 2016. Flax and its thermoplastic biocomposites. Journal of Composite Materials 50 (22):3043–51. doi:10.1177/0021998315615407.

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Guo, D., H. Jiang, J. Ye, A. Zhang, Y. Wang, Y. Gao, Q. Yan, J. Chen, L. Duan, H. Liu, et al. 2021. Transcriptome combined with population level validation reveals genomic loci controlling plant height in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.). Industrial Crops and Products 172:113998. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.113998.

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Istomin, A. V., T. S. Demina, E. N. Subcheva, T. A. Akopova, and A. N. Zelenetskii. 2016. Nanocrystalline cellulose from flax stalks: Preparation, structure, and use. Fibre Chemistry 48 (3):199–201. doi:10.1007/s10692-016-9767-5.

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Yu, Y., Y. Zhang, X. Yang, H. Liu, L. Shao, X. Zhang, and J. Yao. 2015. Biodegradation process and yellowing mechanism of an ecofriendly superabsorbent based on cellulose from flax yarn wastes. Cellulose 22 (1):329–38. doi:10.1007/s10570-014-0531-9.

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Rajan, A., D. R. Sobankumar, and A. J. Nair. 2014. Enrichment of ω-3 fatty acids in flax seed oil by alkaline lipase of Aspergillus fumigatus MTCC 9657. International Journal of Food Science & Technology 49 (5):1337–43. doi:10.1111/ijfs.12434.

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Rupani, B., K. Kodam, R. Gadre, and G. D. Najafpour. 2012. Lipase‐mediated hydrolysis of flax seed oil for selective enrichment of α‐linolenic acid. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 114 (11):1246–53. doi:10.1002/ejlt.201100384.

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Rydlová, J., D. Püschel, R. Sudová, M. Gryndler, O. Mikanová, and M. Vosátka. 2010. Interaction of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobia: Effects on flax yield in spoil‐bank clay. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 174 (1):128–34. doi:10.1002/jpln.201000130.

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Mańkowski, J., K. Pudełko, J. Kołodziej, and T. Karaś. 2015. Effect of herbicides on yield and quality of straw and homomorphic fibre in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.). Industrial Crops and Products 70:185–89. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.03.035.

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Mikhailouskaya, N. 2006. The effect of flax seed inoculation by Azospirillum brasilense on flax yield and its quality. Plant, Soil and Environment 52 (9):402–06. doi:10.17221/3458-PSE.

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Makhlouf, A., A. Belaadi, S. Amroune, M. Bourchak, and H. Satha. 2020. Elaboration and characterization of flax fiber reinforced high density polyethylene biocomposite: Effect of the heating rate on thermo-mechanical properties. Journal of Natural Fibers 19 (10):1–14. doi:10.1080/15440478.2020.1848737.

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Paynel, F., C. Morvan, S. Marais, and L. Lebrun. 2013. Improvement of the hydrolytic stability of new flax-based biocomposite materials. Polymer Degradation and Stability 98 (1):190–97. doi:10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2012.10.010.

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Bruno, M. C., D. M. Posik, M. E. Zappa, V. Baroni, D. Wunderlin, G. Giovambattista, and P. P. García. 2020. Genetic identification of flax, chia and sesame seeds in processed foods. Food Control 118:107374. doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107374.

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Day, A., S. Fenart, G. Neutelings, S. Hawkins, C. Rolando, and C. Tokarski. 2013. Identification of cell wall proteins in the flax (Linum usitatissimum) stem. Proteomics 13 (5):812–25. doi:10.1002/pmic.201200257.

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Galinousky, D., and T. Padvitski. 2017. Cell wall gene expression in two sub-species of flax. The EuroBiotech Journal 1 (2):192–95. doi:10.24190/ISSN2564-615X/2017/02.15.

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Jiang, H., D. Guo, J. Ye, Y. Gao, H. Liu, Y. Wang, M. Xue, Q. Yan, J. Chen, L. Duan, et al. 2021. Genome-wide analysis of genomic imprinting in the endosperm and allelic variation in flax. The Plant Journal. 107(6):1697–710. doi:10.1111/tpj.15411.

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