Milk, Cheese, and Fatty Acid Characterization in Latin America: A Bibliometric Analysis of Trends, Methodological Gaps, and Emerging Analytical Approaches (2010–2025)

Milk and cheese research in Latin America includes nutritional composition, processing, and fatty acids (FAs) characterization, but a well-founded structure and the analytical tools employed have not been mapped. This bibliometric review gathers the structure, thematic evolution, collaboration networks, and analytical capacity of research on milk, cheese, and FA characterization in the region. Scopus records (2010–2025) with at least one of the authors affiliated with a Latin American institution were screened following PRISMA 2020, yielding 651 documents, analyzed with Bibliometrix (v4.3.3) and VOSviewer (v1.6.20). Brazil contributed 66% of the output, and 20.43% of the documents involved international co-authorship, mainly with Spain and the United States. Cheese, whey, and lactic acid bacteria were prominent topics, while gas chromatography and conjugated linoleic acid were the main analytical and FA terms; terms linked to high-resolution techniques and chemometrics were rare or recent. These patterns suggest a consolidated thematic base, with opportunities to integrate advanced analytical and multivariate approaches and to strengthen interinstitutional collaboration.