ISSN : 2663-2187

A Research Agenda for Colostrum Supplement Manufacturing: Insights from a Scoping Review

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Tinashe M. Mutirori, Meelan Roopa, Sara S. Grobbelaar
» doi: 10.48047/AFJBS.6.12.2024.3954-3968

Abstract

Bovine Colostrum (BC) is the first milk cows produce after giving birth. BC contains essential nutrients required by neonates. These nutrients may be potentially beneficial to humans. This review aims to establish the nature of the published evidence, thereby detailing the use of bovine colostrum in supplement manufacturing. This scoping review focuses on evidence in the literature related to the manufacturing process, efficacy or efficiency, and nutritional composition of bovine colostrum supplements. The Scopus database was searched to identify all relevant full-text literature published in English. The methodology used to conduct this scoping review is the JBI method. The scoping review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-Scr) reporting method. Bibliometric analyses were conducted on the included publications. An R-based software package called bibliometrix was used to perform the Bibliometric analyses. The findings from the studies revealed that there has been an increase in annual scientific production on the topic, highlighting an increase in interest in the subject. The thematic map generated using bibliometrix software using the author’s keywords revealed that some of the keywords were in the motor themes quadrant, indicating higher relevance and coherence of the research topics. The review's findings also revealed high research output from developed countries and low research output from developing countries. The results indicate thatEgypt produced the highest research output in the selected publications on the African continent, with four documents on the topic. The research fields that made the largest contribution to the topic under review were medicine, agriculture, and nursing, with 29.4%, 21.2%, and 18.2% contributions, respectively. The results indicate that the countries with the highest frequency of collaboration in the selected literature are the US, the UK, and Australia. Insights from the scoping review were used to develop a Research Agenda to address the research gaps within the research area. Quality Standards, Market Trends, Research Contributions, Nutritional Benefits, Feasibility Studies, and Business Models were the areas proposed for further research to address knowledge gaps in the Bovine Colostrum research field.

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