Global Research Trend and Research Scope in Spray‐Drying Encapsulation of Fish Oil: A Bibliometric Analysis (2011–2025)

ABSTRACT

Long‐chain omega‐3 fatty acids like EPA and DHA are abundant in fish oil, making it prone to oxidative deterioration. This restricts their direct application in nutraceutical and food systems. Encapsulation has emerged as an effective technology to overcome these restrictions. One of the most popular methods for encapsulation is spray drying, resulting in increased bioavailability and oxidative stability. This study presented a bibliometric analysis of 104 screened publications on fish oil encapsulation using spray drying technology from 2011 to 2025, retrieved from Scopus and Dimensions. The findings indicate a consistent rise in research output. There were found to be three growth phases, consisting of maturity, consolidation, and emergence. Oxidative stability, emulsion formulation, and wall material optimization were found to be the main research focus. Despite significant progress, there are still important research gaps in the areas of industrial‐scale processing, in vivo bioavailability validation, and the development of sustainable encapsulation coating materials. The identified research trends and gaps can guide food lipid researchers and stakeholders toward improved oxidative stability using scalable encapsulation techniques and sustainable wall materials as functional fish oil delivery systems. New developments in the food and pharmaceutical industries, such as nanoencapsulation and plant‐based wall materials, point to a move toward more effective and sustainable delivery methods.