Growing concerns regarding food safety, antimicrobial resistance and the environmental impact of synthetic preservatives have intensified the search for natural and sustainable food preservation strategies
(Anumudu et al., 2024; Punia Bangar et al., 2022;
Rachwał and Gustaw, 2024). Microbial spoilage remains a major cause of food losses worldwide, creating significant economic and public health challenges. Consequently, biological preservation approaches based on beneficial microorganisms and their metabolites have attracted increasing scientific attention as alternatives to conventional chemical preservatives.
Among these microorganisms, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) play a central role in food biopreservation due to their long history of safe use, probiotic properties and ability to produce antimicrobial compounds such as organic acids,bacteriocin, hydrogen peroxide,and other bioactive metabolites
(Anumudu et al., 2024; El Ahmadi et al., 2025;
Ibrahim et al., 2021; Latreche et al., 2025; Punia Bangar et al., 2022;
Zapaśnik et al., 2022). These characteristics enable LAB to inhibit foodborne pathogens, reduce spoilage microorganisms and improve the microbiological stability of food products, making them important components of sustainable food preservation systems.
(Hammadeche et al., 2025).
Camel milk has recently emerged as a promising source of LAB with unique functional and technological properties. Recent investigations of camel milk microbiology have also emphasized the importance of appropriate microbiological methods for recovering and characterizing its indigenous microbial communities
(Drici et al., 2025). Camel milk possesses distinctive physico-Chemical and microbiological characteristics shaped by harsh environmental conditions and traditional fermentation practices. These conditions support a diverse microbial ecosystem that may harbor LAB strains with enhanced probiotic, antimicrobial and biopreservative potential (
Belkheir and Laref, 2025 ;
Latreche et al., 2025 ;
Mokhtari et al., 2025). Recent research on indigenous dairy microbiota has also emphasized the importance of accurate identification and technological characterization of LAB for their potential food applications.
(Bouchibane et al., 2022; Nurye and Wolkero, 2022).
Despite the growing number of publications in this field, current knowledge remains fragmented across microbiology, dairy science, food technology and biotechnology disciplines. Recent studies have increasingly explored camel milk-derived LAB for probiotic functionality, antimicrobial activity, bioactive metabolite production and potential applications in food preservation, reflecting a rapidly developing research area (
Belkheir and Laref, 2025;
Latreche et al., 2025; Mokhtari et al., 2025). However, these developments have largely been reported as individual experimental studies and the overall evolution, intellectual structure, collaboration patterns and emerging research themes of this field have not yet been systematically quantified. Although previous bibliometric studies have examined broader topics such as probiotics, bacteriocins and food biopreservation, to the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive bibliometric analysis has specifically mapped the global research landscape of camel milk-derived LAB in relation to food biopreservation and their bioactive potential. This represents the specific research gap addressed by the present study.
Therefore, the objective of the present study is to provide a comprehensive bibliometric assessment of the development, structure and emerging directions of global research on camel milk-derived LAB and their applications in food biopreservation.The analysis covers Scopus-indexed publications published between 2000 and 2025 and examines scientific production, citation impact, major contributors, collaboration networks, research themes and emerging hotspots. The novelty of this study lies in integrating these bibliometric dimensions to specifically characterize the evolution of research on camel milk-derived LAB and their bioactive potential within the context of sustainable food biopreservation. Specifically, this study addresses the following research questions:
RQ1: How have scientific production and citation impact evolved over time in research on camel milk-derived LAB and food biopreservation ?
RQ2: Who are the major contributors to this research field, including the most productive countries, institutions, journals and collaboration networks ?
RQ3: What are the principal research themes, intellectual structure and emerging trends related to probiotic functionality, bioactive metabolites, antimicrobial activity and food biopreservation ?
By answering these questions, this study provides a quantitative overview of the development, collaboration patterns and thematic evolution of camel milk-derived LAB research, while identifying emerging opportunities for innovation in sustainable food biopreservation systems.
Literature review
Evolution of research on camel milk-derived LAB and related bibliometric studies
Research on camel milk-derived lactic acid bacteria (LAB) has progressively evolved from basic microbial identification toward functional and technological applications. Early studies (2004-2012) primarily focused on the isolation and phenotypic characterization of LAB, identifying important species such as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Lactococcus lactis (
Ahmed and Kanwal, 2004;
Khedid et al., 2009). The subsequent adoption of molecular approaches, including 16S rRNA sequencing, improved taxonomic characterization and understanding of camel milk microbial diversity
(Jans et al., 2012).
Between 2013 and 2019, research increasingly focused on probiotic and functional properties, including acid and bile tolerance, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial potential
(Abushelaibi et al., 2017; Shori, 2013;
Soleymanzadeh et al., 2017). However, many studies remained limited to preliminary functional characterization, with insufficient mechanistic investigation of bacteriocins, exopolysaccharides and other bioactive metabolites, as well as incomplete safety assessment
(Fguiri et al., 2016; Hawaz et al., 2016).
More recent research has expanded toward antimicrobial activity, sustainability and food-related applications, supported by improved molecular characterization and safety assessment
(Alhejaili et al., 2025; Latreche et al., 2025; Nawaz et al., 2024). Nevertheless, the integration of multi-omics approaches and the translation of LAB-derived metabolites into validated food biopreservation systems remain limited. These gaps highlight the need to move from strain identification and preliminary activity screening toward mechanistic and application-oriented research.
In parallel, bibliometric studies on LAB, bacteriocins and antimicrobial substances have evolved from conventional publication and citation analyses toward network-based approaches that examine collaboration patterns, intellectual structure and thematic development
(Anumudu et al., 2022; López-Cuellar et al., 2016;
Mörschbächer and Granada, 2022). Narrative and systematic reviews have also highlighted the probiotic, antimicrobial and technological potential of camel milk-derived LAB and their bioactive metabolites
(Hamed et al., 2024; Sharma et al., 2021).
Despite these advances, existing studies remain fragmented across microbiology, dairy science, probiotics and food technology. To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive bibliometric analysis has quantitatively mapped the global scientific landscape of camel milk-derived LAB specifically in relation to their bioactive potential and applications in food biopreservation. The present study therefore addresses this gap by examining research productivity, collaboration patterns, intellectual structure, thematic evolution and emerging research directions.
Research gap and future research agenda
Although numerous experimental and review studies have reported the probiotic, antimicrobial and biopreservative potential of camel milk-derived lactic acid bacteria (LAB), the scientific landscape remains fragmented and lacks comprehensive quantitative evaluation. Previous bibliometric investigations have primarily focused on probiotics, bacteriocins, dairy fermentation, or food preservation in general, without specifically addressing camel milk-associated LAB within the context of food biopreservation. Consequently, the intellectual structure, thematic evolution, collaborative networks and emerging research trends of this field have remained largely unexplored.
This gap is particularly important because camel milk represents a unique ecological niche characterized by distinct microbial diversity and adaptation to harsh environmental conditions, potentially providing novel bioactive metabolites with applications in sustainable food preservation. Furthermore, the increasing demand for natural preservatives and clean-label foods highlights the need for a better understanding of global research trends and innovation pathways in this area.
The present study addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive bibliometric mapping of research on camel milk-derived LAB and food biopreservation. The findings identify major contributors, collaboration patterns, thematic developments and emerging research fronts.
Future investigations should move beyond descriptive microbial characterization toward integrative and application-oriented approaches. Particular attention should be given to multi-omics characterization (genomics, proteomics and metabolomics), identification of bioactive metabolites such as bacteriocins and postbiotics, development of active packaging and biopreservation technologies and validation of LAB-based preservation systems under industrial conditions. Such advances will strengthen the scientific basis for the use of camel milk-derived LAB as sustainable bio-preservative agents in modern food systems.
Data source and literature search
This bibliometric study used the Scopus database as the primary source of bibliographic records because of its broad coverage of peer-reviewed scientific literature and compatibility with established bibliometric analysis tools (
Pranckutė, 2021). The literature search was conducted on 12 February 2026 and covered publications published between 2000 and 2025. The search was performed using the TITLE-ABS-KEY field in Scopus.
The search strategy was designed to retrieve publications addressing three main conceptual components : camel milk and camel species, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and food biopreservation and related antimicrobial, food-safety, spoilage, fermentation and bioactive-compound applications. The following search string was used in Scopus:
(TITLE (“camel milk” OR “camel dairy” OR “Camelus dromedarius” OR “Camelus bactrianus”) AND ALL (“lactic acid bacteria” OR LAB OR Lactobacill OR Lactiplantibacillus OR Lactococcus OR Pediococcus OR Leuconostoc OR Enterococcus) AND ALL (biopreserv OR “food preserv*” OR antimicrobial* OR antibacterial* OR antifungal* OR “food safety” OR “shelf life” OR “shelf-life” OR “food spoilage” OR “spoilage bacteria” OR inhibition OR “pathogenic bacteria” OR “foodborne pathogen*” OR fermentation OR “bioactive compound*” OR metabolite*))**.
The initial search retrieved 558 records.
Eligibility criteria and study selection
The selection criteria were defined before the bibliometric analysis. Eligible records were those published between 2000 and 2025, written in English and classified by Scopus as Article or Review. Publications were required to fall within the conceptual scope of camel milk/camel-derived dairy systems, lactic acid bacteria and food biopreservation or related antimicrobial, food-safety, fermentation, spoilage, or bioactive-compound applications.
Records published outside the 2000-2025 period, records classified as document types other than Article or Review and non-English records were excluded. No additional manual screening of titles, abstracts, or keywords was performed after application of the predefined Scopus filters.
The initial 558 records were reduced to 538 records after applying the publication-year restriction, excluding 20 records outside the 2000-2025 period. The document-type filter (Article and Review) subsequently reduced the dataset to 522 records, excluding 16 records. Finally, application of the English-language filter resulted in 496 records, with 26 non-English records excluded. Therefore, the final dataset comprised 496 publications, which were included in the subsequent bibliometric analysis.
PRISMA-informed data selection
To improve transparency in reporting the literature identification and selection process, a PRISMA-informed flow diagram was developed (Fig 1). The diagram presents the number of records identified from Scopus and the sequential application of the publication-year, document-type and language criteria. The final dataset of 496 publications was subsequently used for quantitative and knowledge-mapping bibliometric analysis.
Important parts of bibliometric studies
We used a few important bibliometric indicators to look at the scientific landscape of camel milk-derived lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in food biopreservation. Research trends were analyzed by examining annual publication output and citation impact from 2000 to 2025. The study further examined prominent and emerging sources, including journals and institutional outputs, while analyzing international collaboration networks and the geographical distribution of research impact. Co-citation analyses were done to find the most important documents and map the historiographic evolution of manuscripts in order to learn more about the intellectual structure of the field. Keyword co-occurrence networks, thematic maps, keywords and sources were used to look at the conceptual structure. These methods made it possible to find research clusters, new themes and changes in focus areas over time, like postbiotic metabolites, bioactive compounds, antimicrobial activity and functional food applications. The suggested bibliometric framework gives a full picture of the camel milk LAB biopreservation field, showing how productive scientists are around the world, how they work together, how themes change over time and where there are gaps in knowledge. This systematic analysis establishes a basis for forthcoming research trajectories, strategic partnerships and advancements in natural food preservation technologie.
Description statistics
From Table 1, the research incorporates 496 publications between 2000 and 2025 that originated from 222 sources including books and journals. The documents found in the dataset have existed for 5.96 years on average implying that the analysis includes older academic literature than Table 1. The 18.32% growth rate shows steady growth based on publications from 2000 to 2025 at a slower pace than data from the first analysis. Academic recognition of these works is higher in this dataset since researchers have cited each document an average of 25.11 times. The collection contains 3050 Keywords Plus (ID) and 1300 Author’s Keywords (DE) which demonstrate extensive thematic variety. Authors Collaboration The dataset contains 1818 authors who typically collaborate for research instead of working solo because there are only twelev authors who published single-authored documents. The number of researchers involved in writing each document reaches 5.49 on average while maintaining a similar collaborative approach as before. International co-authorship appears in 45.36% of the documents indicating a strong trend towards academic collaboration between researchers from different countries.
Annual scientific production and influence evolution
Scientific production on camel milk-derived lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and their metabolites for food biopreservation showed a clear progressive evolution, characterized by three major phases (Fig 2) : An exploratory stage (2000-2011), a consolidation period (2012-2018) and rapid expansion after 2019. During the early period, publication output was limited and research mainly focused on the isolation and basic characterization of LAB from camel milk. Between 2012 and 2018, annual production increased progressively to approximately 25-35 publications, accompanied by a shift toward functional characterization, including probiotic properties, antimicrobial activity, bacteriocin production and metabolite-related research.
A marked acceleration occurred after 2019, with annual production exceeding 60 publications and reaching its highest levels between 2022 and 2024. This growth reflects increasing interest in camel milk as a source of functional microorganisms and bioactive metabolites, driven by the demand for natural and sustainable food preservation strategies and advances in molecular and omics-based approaches. Overall, the publication trend indicates a transition from descriptive microbiological studies toward a more interdisciplinary field integrating microbiology, biotechnology, food safety and functional food research.
Citation indicators showed greater temporal variability. Average citations per publication (ACP) reached notable peaks in the early years, particularly around 2004 and 2010, whereas average citations per year (ACY) also peaked around 2010 before declining in subsequent years. Both indicators decreased markedly after 2022, which may partly reflect the citation lag associated with recently published studies and the rapid increase in annual publication output. Despite this decline in average citation indicators, the continued growth in scientific production demonstrates sustained and expanding interest in camel milk-derived LAB and their potential applications in sustainable food biopreservation.
Influential, leading and emerging sources
The analysis of the most relevant sources and their distribution over the years of production reveals a dual structure in the dissemination of research on lactic acid bacteria from camel milk and food biopreservation. It can be seen from (Fig 3) that the most prolific source is the Journal of Dairy Science, followed by International Dairy Journal and Journal of Dairy Research, confirming the central role of specialized dairy journals in this field. The publication productivity of these journals has been steady over time, especially after 2015, which is a reflection of the growing scientific interest in dairy microbiology, fermentation processes and functional properties of lactic acid bacteria. At the same time, multidisciplinary journals like LWT-Food Science and Technology and Foods show strong and rapidly increasing contributions, especially in recent years, indicating a shift toward broader food science and technological applications. The source production timeline also clearly shows an acceleration in publications after 2018, with several journals transitioning from low or intermittent output to sustained growth trajectories. Journals such as Fermentation and Food Bioscience that are emerging, show a late but steep growth, indicating the introduction of new themes such as microbial biotechnology, bioactive compounds and new preservation strategies. Moreover, journals like Food Chemistry, which have a lower publication volume, exert significant scientific influence through influential papers, demonstrating that broader journals value quality and citation impact over sheer volume. Altogether, the findings indicate a complementary publishing landscape where highly productive core dairy journals and high-impact interdisciplinary outlets are collectively reflective of the increasing scope and maturation of research on camel milk microbiota and their applications in sustainable food biopreservation.
Countries and institutional contributions in camel milk-Derived LAB research
The geographical and institutional distribution of scientific production provides vital insight into research leadership, collaboration dynamics and impact patterns within the field of camel milk-derived lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and their applications in food bioconservation.
Country-level performance
The geographical distribution of scientific production on camel milk-derived LAB was uneven (Fig 4 and Table 2). Saudi Arabia was the most productive country (54 publications), followed by China (52) and the United Arab Emirates (46), while India (41), Egypt (34), Iran (32) and Algeria (27) also made substantial contributions. Tunisia, Morocco and Pakistan showed comparatively lower publication outputs.
Beyond differences in productivity, the results revealed an unequal pattern of international research collaboration. Several camel-producing regions, particularly in Africa, remained relatively peripheral within global co-authorship networks. This geographic imbalance may contribute to important knowledge gaps, as underrepresented ecosystems and their potentially distinctive camel milk microbiota remain insufficiently investigated.
Overall, the findings suggest that disparities in research productivity and collaboration are not merely descriptive but may influence the development of knowledge in the field. Limited international connectivity can restrict access to interdisciplinary expertise and advanced analytical approaches, thereby slowing the transition from microbial characterization to mechanistic studies and validated food biopreservation applications. Strengthening international research networks and promoting comparative studies across camel-producing regions could therefore support a more comprehensive, ecosystem-based and application-oriented understanding of camel milk-derived LAB.
Geographical distribution and international collaboration
The geographical distribution of corresponding authors reveals that research on camel milk-derived lactic acid bacteria (LAB) is concentrated in a limited number of countries, particularly those with established camel dairy sectors and active food microbiology research programs. Saudi Arabia emerged as the leading contributor, producing the highest number of publications, predominantly as Single Country Publications (SCP), indicating strong domestic research capacity and institutional support. China ranked second in scientific output and exhibited a more balanced distribution between SCP and Multiple Country Publications (MCP), reflecting increasing integration into international research networks.
Other major contributors included India, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran and Algeria. While India and Egypt demonstrated a balanced combination of national and international publications, the United Arab Emirates showed a relatively higher proportion of MCPs, highlighting its active participation in global scientific collaborations. Countries such as Morocco, Tunisia and Pakistan produced fewer publications but displayed comparatively strong international engagement, with collaborative studies representing a substantial proportion of their total output.
Overall, the SCP-MCP distribution suggests that scientific productivity in this field is driven by both established national research systems and expanding international partnerships. The increasing participation in multinational collaborations indicates a growing exchange of expertise and resources, which is expected to accelerate future advances in probiotic development, bioactive metabolite characterization and sustainable food biopreservation technologies based on camel milk-derived LAB.
Institutional-level performance
Institutional analysis revealed a marked concentration of research activity within Gulf-region universities, particularly the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) and King Saud University (KSU) (Table 3). UAEU emerged as the leading institution, with 44 publications, 2,439 citations and the highest citation impact (CPP = 55.43), while its Total Link Strength (TLS = 76) indicates extensive integration within international collaboration networks. Similarly, KSU demonstrated substantial scientific influence (TP = 16 ; TC = 608 ; CPP = 38.00), reflecting Saudi Arabia’s strong research capacity in camel milk microbiology and probiotic studies. In contrast, institutions from North Africa, including the University of Oran 1, contributed fewer publications and exhibited limited collaborative connectivity (TLS = 1), despite being located in important camel milk-producing regions. These findings reveal a geographically uneven research landscape characterized by the concentration of productivity, citation impact and collaboration within a limited number of institutional hubs. The lower international visibility of several African institutions suggests the need for stronger cross-regional partnerships and collaborative research programs. Expanding such networks could facilitate knowledge transfer, improve scientific impact and accelerate the translation of camel milk-derived LAB research into innovative food biopreservation applications.
Keyboard co-occurrence analysisi and research themes
Keyword co-occurrence analysis provides insight into the conceptual structure and major research directions of camel milk-derived lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and their applications in food biopreservation. As summarized in Table 4, the most frequent keywords, their occurrences, total link strength (TLS), citation impact and cluster distribution reveal several interconnected research themes.
“Camel milk” was the dominant keyword (372 occurrences ; TLS = 2364), confirming its central role in connecting research on microbiology, fermentation, probiotic properties and bioactive compounds. Camelus dromedarius was the second most prominent term (176 occurrences ; TLS = 1773), reflecting the importance of species-specific investigations of microbial diversity and camel milk characteristics.
A major thematic domain was associated with the functional and probiotic properties of LAB, represented by keywords such as “probiotic” (84 occurrences), “fermentation” (62 occurrences) and “fermented camel milk” (54 occurrences). Another important cluster focused on bioactivity and antimicrobial potential, with “antioxidant activity” (75 occurrences) and “antibacterial activity” (36 occurrences), highlighting the growing interest in LAB-derived metabolites and their potential application against foodborne microorganisms. Microbiological characterization also remained a central theme, as indicated by frequent terms including “bacteria,” “lactic acid bacteria,” “microbiology,” Lactobacillus and Enterococcus. In addition, keywords related to chemical composition, nutritional value, enzyme activity and lactic acid demonstrate the continued importance of physicochemical and metabolic aspects of camel milk fermentation.
Overall, the keyword network revealed three major thematic domains : (1) camel milk microbiology and biodiversity ; (2) functional fermentation and probiotic research ; and (3) bioactive compounds and food biopreservation applications (Fig 5). However, despite the strong representation of microbiological and probiotic research, advanced omics approaches and metabolite-specific concepts, including postbiotics, bacteriocins and metabolomics, were comparatively less prominent. This suggests that mechanistic and metabolite-driven research remains underdeveloped. Future studies should therefore integrate genomic, metabolomic and proteomic approaches to better characterize LAB-derived bioactive compounds and support their application in sustainable food biopreservation and functional food development.
Thematic structure and research trends
Trend topics analysis
The temporal history of research topics is represented in Fig 6, which illustrates the progression of keywords during the study period from 2003 to 2025.
During the early research phase (2003-2010), investigations largely focused on taxonomic identification and microbiological characterisation of camel milk bacteria. Keywords such as camelidae, lactobacillus paracasei, lactococcus lactis, microbes and organic acids dominated this period. This stage illustrates the basic research aimed at isolating and identifying microbial populations prevalent in camel milk.
In the intermediate period (2011-2017), the study emphasis steadily switched toward microbial diversity and functional potential. Keywords such as enterococcus, leuconostoc, phylogeny, bacteriocin and lactococcus gained significance. These studies mostly focused on genetic characterisation, antimicrobial metabolite synthesis and probiotic characteristics of lactic acid bacteria isolated from camel milk.
From 2018 onward, the research landscape indicates a marked trend toward functional, nutritional and health-related applications of camel milk. Keywords such as probiotic, lactic acid bacteria, fermented milk, functional food, metabolomics and physicochemical qualities became increasingly important. More recently, developing areas include antioxidant activity, camel milk proteins, gut microbiota and food storage, showing rising interest in the bioactive and therapeutic potential of camel milk and its microbial components.
The most current keywords (2022-2025) focus functional food development and health-related applications, including metabolomics, gut microbiota and food storage technology. This evolution shows that the area is going beyond fundamental microbiological characterisation toward applied research concentrating on food innovation, nutraceutical development and biopreservation strategies. Overall, the trend analysis reveals a clear scientific evolution from microbial discovery, to functional characterisation and eventually toward biotechnological and health-oriented applications of camel milk and its associated microbiota.
The conceptual structure map (MCA)
The conceptual structure map developed using the Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) approach provides an overview of the intellectual structure of studies connected to camel milk and lactic acid bacteria (Fig 7). MCA decreases the dimensionality of the keyword dataset and reveals the conceptual linkages among the most frequently occurring phrases. In this analysis, the two main dimensions represent the principal axes explaining the variability of the conceptual space, where Dim 1 reflects the main thematic orientation of camel milk research, while Dim 2 distinguishes between microbiological-biotechnological research and biomedical or nutritional applications.The resulting map displays a single broad thematic cluster, represented by the red polygon, which integrates a wide range of keywords linked with camel milk study. Within this cluster, multiple related subthemes can be discovered.
The MCA conceptual map illustrates that camel milk research now concentrates around three interrelated axes : microbial fermentation processes, bioactive chemical characterisation and medicinal applications. Nevertheless, the modest predominance of terms explicitly linked with food preservation technologies or industrial applications reveals a potential research gap that may be addressed in future studies.
Thematic map (Centrality-density analysis)
The thematic map (Fig 8) provides insight into the conceptual structure of camel milk research by classifying themes according to their centrality and density. Motor themes (high centrality and high density) were represented by clusters including
camel milk,
bioactive peptides and
antidiabetic, indicating that bioactive compound and functional health applications constitute the most developed and influential research domain. Another motor cluster, comprising
camel milk,
lactic acid bacteria and
probiotic, highlights the growing importance of probiotic research and the health-promoting potential of camel milk microbiota.
Themes with moderate centrality and density included
lactic acid bacteria and
fermented camel milk, reflecting the strong connection between microbial characterization and traditional fermentation research. In contrast, emerging or less-developed themes were associated with
antioxidant activity,
food supply and
anti-inflammatory activity, suggesting areas that require further scientific development and integration.
Overall, the thematic map demonstrates that current research is predominantly focused on bioactive compounds, probiotic functionality and biomedical applications. In comparison, themes directly related to food biopreservation and industrial preservation technologies remain relatively peripheral. This finding reinforces the existence of a significant research gap and highlights the need for future studies investigating the application of camel milk-derived LAB and their metabolites in sustainable food biopreservation systems.
Critical research gaps and future directions
The bibliometric findings indicate substantial growth in research on camel milk-derived LAB, accompanied by a shift from microbial isolation and characterization toward probiotic functionality, antimicrobial activity, bioactive metabolites and food-related applications. However, this growth has not occurred uniformly across all areas. In particular, the field remains more strongly oriented toward probiotic and functional applications than toward validated food-biopreservation technologies, indicating that increasing publication output does not necessarily reflect technological maturity.
A major gap concerns the translation of antimicrobial activity from laboratory assays to real food systems. Although antibacterial and antioxidant activities are prominent research themes, results obtained under controlled conditions may not reflect performance in complex food matrices, where physicochemical composition, processing and storage conditions can influence antimicrobial efficacy. Future studies should therefore incorporate standardized challenge tests in representative food systems, together with dose optimization, stability assessment, sensory evaluation and resistance monitoring.
Another limitation involves the characterization and mechanistic understanding of bioactive metabolites. While metabolomics-related research is emerging, conventional microbiological and probiotic themes remain dominant and the relationship between specific metabolites and their biological effects is often unclear. Integrating genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and targeted chemical analysis could help establish links between LAB characteristics, metabolite production, mechanisms of action and preservation efficacy. Particular attention should be given to bacteriocins, organic acids, peptides and postbiotics, for which structure–activity relationships and effective concentrations remain insufficiently characterized (Table 5).
Geographical concentration also represents an important limitation. Research output is dominated by a relatively small number of camel-producing and research-intensive countries, potentially limiting the representation of camel milk microbial diversity. Comparative studies across different geographical regions, breeds, production systems and traditional fermentation practices could provide a broader understanding of the ecological factors influencing LAB diversity and functionality.
Finally, despite increasing interest in food technology and preservation, industrial translation remains limited. Further research should move beyond laboratory-scale characterization and address pilot-scale validation, formulation stability, shelf-life performance, processing compatibility, cost-effectiveness, regulatory requirements and industrial reproducibility.
Overall, future research should shift from descriptive characterization toward mechanism-driven and application-oriented approaches. Rather than simply identifying additional LAB strains or metabolites, priority should be given to establishing reproducible relationships between microbial characteristics, bioactive compounds, mechanisms of action, efficacy in real food systems and industrial feasibility. Such an integrated strategy could facilitate the development of validated and scalable camel milk LAB-based biopreservation technologies.
