Antioxidants: Scientific Literature Landscape Analysis

Table 1

Most cited antioxidants in the last several decades.

Time period	Chemical structure and name	Chemical term (number of publications; citations per publication)
1990 and before		Uric acid (12; 212.1)
		Beta-carotene (12; 189.3)
		Flavonoid (15; 176.5)
		Ascorbate (14; 175.7)
		Vitamin C (22; 69.8)
		Vitamin E (121; 62.7)
		Selenium (35; 56.3)
1991–2000		Flavonoid (623; 167.3)
		Carotenoid (683; 112.3)
		Hydrogen peroxide (1430; 89.4)
		Nitric oxide (826; 88.1)
		Vitamin C (1160; 82.4)
		N-Acetylcysteine (639; 77.4)
		Ascorbate (1171; 77.3)
		Beta-carotene (1317; 69.1)
		Vitamin E (2869; 65.5); Alpha-tocopherol (2335; 65.2)
2001–2010		Curcumin (915; 75.4)
		Flavonol (677; 70.5)
		Phenolic acid (935; 64.4)
		Anthocyanin (1560; 60.9)
		Resveratrol (1159; 60.1)
		Kaempferol (635; 58.8)
2011–2018		Curcumin (2131; 14.3)
		Resveratrol (2141; 13.9)
		Cysteine (2410; 13.0)

¹Flavone backbone of flavonoids. ²The most common ascorbate. ³Ascorbic acid is one form “vitamer” of vitamin C. ⁴α-Tocopherol is the most active form of vitamin E (includes also other tocopherols and tocotrienols). ⁵An example as the most common flavonoid. ⁶It is the second most common form of carotene. ⁷Backbone of a flavonol. ⁸An example as the most common phenolic acid. ⁹The most common frequently occurring in the nature anthocyanin.