On health effects of resveratrol in wine. A bibliometric view based on papers having achieved a high citation impact within the scientific discourse

We analyzed 3344 publications that are concerned with the health-related effects of resveratrol that occurs in wine and grapes. We found that the publication activity increased until 2010 and decreased slightly afterwards. The most frequent author keywords were classified into six groups: (1) beverages-related keywords, (2) compounds-related keywords, (3) diseases-related keywords, (4) effects-related keywords, (5) mechanisms-related keywords, and (6) broader keywords. By means of reference publication year spectroscopy, we analyzed and discussed the most frequently cited references (i.e., key papers) within the publication set. A rather large portion of the key papers takes a positive attitude and reports about health effects of resveratrol, although limited data in humans preclude drawing unambiguous conclusions on the health-related benefits of resveratrol. From our analysis, we could not identify specific publications that provide a distinct change of direction of the ongoing scientific discourse. Moderate red wine consumption seems to have the potential of being health promoting, whereas excessive alcohol consumption can induce liver cirrhosis and cancer.