Abstract:

Objective To visualize the literature data on the detection of harmful substances in food by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（GC-MS） by bibliometric analysis，and to understand the development status of this research field. Methods The bibliometrix package in R 4.4.1 was used to retrieve all research literature related to GC-MS detection of harmful substances in food from the Web of Science（WOS） core database. Data visualization analysis was performed on the retrieved research literature，statistical analysis was conducted on the annual publication volume，country，institution，author，journal，and keywords related to GC-MS detection of harmful substances in food，and a visual scientific map was then drawn. Results A total of 422 research papers on the detection of hazardous substances in food by GC-MS were screened. The earliest relevant study retrieved on WOS was published in 2009. Overall，the number of publications had shown a fluctuating upward trend，with China ranking first in both the number of publications and citation counts. The journal Food Chemistry was ranked first in local citations，andthe journal Foods had the largest number of publications. The most cited author in the world was PRIMPKE S，and the author with the most publications was NERIN C.The institution with the most publications was the Universidade do Porto. China-led institutions worked most closely with European countries and the United States. The top three high-frequency words were food，identification and extraction. Conclusion The research interest of GC-MS method for the detection of food harmful substances is still increasing，and sample preparation method is a very important research hotspot in the field.

Key words: Gas chromatography, Mass spectrometry, Food safety, Bibliometrics, Research trends, Hotspot analysis