# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Animal Nutrition and Physiology Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/animal-nutrition-and-physiology/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Animal Nutrition and Physiology research in the Class of 2026?

Broiler chickens, gut microbiota, and feed conversion ratio anchor the Class of 2026 animal nutrition cohort, alongside cecal microbiota, glutathione peroxidase, and Lactobacillus. From Class of 2025 to 2026, villus height, Lactobacillus, and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum rose while broiler chickens, intestinal barrier integrity, and feed conversion ratio receded among top-cited work.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Animal Nutrition and Physiology |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 8,939 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Broiler chickens, gut microbiota, feed conversion ratio, cecal microbiota, glutathione peroxidase |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 23–733 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Utilization of Differently Processed Sesame Seed Meal as a Source of Methionine in Guinea Fowls Diets | Abrani Sulaiman, N. B. Rano, H. A. Muhammad, Rajkumar Dhakar, Pankaj Kumar Teli | Abrani Sulaiman | Department of Animal Health and Production, Jigawa State, Nigeria, Nigeria | International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology (IJISRT) | 733 | 10.38124/ijisrt/ijisrt24jul207 |
| 2 | Response of Broiler Chickens to Three Different Energy Source Feedstuffs | Abrani Sulaiman, N. B. Rano, Halima Abdullahi, Rajkumar Dhakar, A. Barde | Abrani Sulaiman | Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic, Hadejia, Jigawa State, Nigeria, Nigeria | International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology (IJISRT) | 733 | 10.38124/ijisrt/ijisrt24jul049 |
| 3 | Hydrolyzed protein formula improves the nutritional tolerance by increasing intestinal development and altering cecal microbiota in low-birth-weight piglets | Miaomiao Bai, Hongnan Liu, Yalu Yan, Sufang Duan, Ignatius Man-Yau Szeto, Jian He, Jinjie Hu, Yawei Fu, Kang Xu, Xia Xiong | Hongnan Liu, Yalu Yan | Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Frontiers in Nutrition | 56 | 10.3389/fnut.2024.1439110 |
| 4 | Flavor profile analysis of grilled lamb seasoned with classic salt, chili pepper, and cumin (Cuminum cyminum) through HS-SPME-GC-MS, HS-GC-IMS, E-nose techniques, and sensory evaluation on Sonit sheep | Wensheng Yao, Shuangyu Ma, Huiying Wu, Dengyong Liu, Jun Liu, Mingcheng Zhang | Dengyong Liu | Bohai University, China | Food Chemistry | 43 | 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139514 |
| 5 | <i>Clostridium butyricum</i> and carbohydrate active enzymes contribute to the reduced fat deposition in pigs | Lingyan Ma, Shiyu Tao, Tongxing Song, Wentao Lyu, Ying Li, Wen Wang, Qicheng Shen, Yan Ni, Jiang Zhu, Jiangchao Zhao, Hua Yang, Yingping Xiao | Jiangchao Zhao, Hua Yang, Yingping Xiao | Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China | iMeta | 41 | 10.1002/imt2.160 |
| 6 | Effects of Heat Stress on the Laying Performance, Egg Quality, and Physiological Response of Laying Hens | Hye-Ran Kim, Chaehwa Ryu, Sung-Dae Lee, Jin-Ho Cho, Hwanku Kang | Hwan-Ku Kang | National Institute of Animal Science, South Korea | Animals | 35 | 10.3390/ani14071076 |
| 7 | Pea protein soften surimi gels and improve in vitro digestibility: Potential high protein foods for elderly | Yi En Jayne Lee, Hongyi Manfred Goh, Dejian Huang | Dejian Huang | National University of Singapore, Singapore | Food Hydrocolloids | 29 | 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2024.110664 |
| 8 | Driving gut microbiota enterotypes through host genetics | Catherine Larzul, Jordi Estellé, Marion Borey, Fany Blanc, Gaëtan Lemonnier, Yvon Billon, Mamadou Gabou Thiam, Benoît Quinquis, Nathalie Galleron, Deborah Jardet, Jérôme Lecardonnel, Florian Plaza Oñate, Claire Rogel-Gaillard | Catherine Larzul, Jordi Estellé | INRAE, France | Microbiome | 28 | 10.1186/s40168-024-01827-8 |
| 9 | Enhancing iron and zinc bioavailability in maize (Zea mays) through phytate reduction: the impact of fermentation alone and in combination with soaking and germination | Samuel Nsabimana, Tariq Ismail, Claudia E Lazarte | Claudia E. Lazarte | Lund University, Sweden | Frontiers in Nutrition | 28 | 10.3389/fnut.2024.1478155 |
| 10 | The comparative effects of probiotics on growth, antioxidant indices and intestinal histomorphology of broilers under heat stress condition | Seyed Hamidreza Hashemitabar, Seyedeh Alemeh Hosseinian | Seyedeh Alemeh Hosseinian | Shiraz University, Iran | Scientific Reports | 27 | 10.1038/s41598-024-66301-9 |
| 11 | Curcumin Mitigates Oxidative Damage in Broiler Liver and Ileum Caused by Aflatoxin B1-Contaminated Feed through Nrf2 Signaling Pathway | Jingyang Zhang, Xue Sun, Xuehong Chai, Yihan Jiao, Jing Sun, Shenao Wang, Hao Yu, Xingjun Feng | Xingjun Feng | Northeast Agricultural University, China | Animals | 25 | 10.3390/ani14030409 |
| 12 | Genome-wide variation study and inter-tissue communication analysis unveil regulatory mechanisms of egg-laying performance in chickens | Dandan Wang, Lizhi Tan, Yihao Zhi, Lina Bu, Yangyang Wang, Zhang Wang, Yulong Guo, Weihua Tian, Chunlin Xu, Donghua Li, Zhuanjian Li, Ruirui Jiang, Ruili Han, Guoxi Li, Yongqiang Wang, Dong Xia, Yadong Tian, Ian C Dunn, Xiaoxiang Hu, Hong Li, Yiqiang Zhao, Xiangtao Kang, Xiaojun Liu | Hong Li, Yiqiang Zhao, Xiangtao Kang, Xiaojun Liu | Henan Agricultural University, China | Nature Communications | 25 | 10.1038/s41467-024-50809-9 |
| 13 | Supplementation of curcumin promotes the intestinal structure, immune barrier function and cecal microbiota composition of laying hens in early laying period | Zhengyu Xu, Wei Zhu, Dan Xu, Felix Kwame Amevor, Youhao Wu, Dongji Ma, Xueqing Cao, Shuo Wei, Gang Shu, Xiaoling Zhao | Xiaoling Zhao | Sichuan Agricultural University, China | Poultry Science | 25 | 10.1016/j.psj.2024.104355 |
| 14 | Influence of using synbiotics by various routes on Mandarah male chicks: intestinal bacterial counts, gut morphology and histological status | Islam M Youssef, Ahmed I Elsherbeni, Areej A Almuraee, Nada M Nass, Eman A Beyari, Naheda M Alshammarii, Ahmed M Abdel-Ghany, El-Sayed G Ahmed, Samia Nasr, Khaled M Youssef, Heba M Salem, Mohamed E Abd El-Hack, Hamada S Saber | Islam M. Youssef | Animal Production Research Institute, Egypt | Poultry Science | 24 | 10.1016/j.psj.2024.103601 |
| 15 | Monitoring activity index and behaviors of cage-free hens with advanced deep learning technologies | Xiao Yang, Ramesh Bist, Bidur Paneru, Lilong Chai | Lilong Chai | University of Georgia, United States | Poultry Science | 24 | 10.1016/j.psj.2024.104193 |
| 16 | Effects of duo-strain probiotics on growth, digestion, and gut health in broiler chickens | Seyed Mehrdad Mirsalami, Mahsa Mirsalami | Seyed Mehrdad Mirsalami, Mahsa Mirsalami | Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch, Iran | Veterinary and Animal Science | 24 | 10.1016/j.vas.2024.100343 |
| 17 | Decreased eggshell strength caused by impairment of uterine calcium transport coincide with higher bone minerals and quality in aged laying hens | Yu Fu, Jianmin Zhou, Martine Schroyen, Haijun Zhang, Shugeng Wu, Guanghai Qi, Jing Wang | Jing Wang | Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China | Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology/Journal of animal science and biotechnology | 23 | 10.1186/s40104-023-00986-2 |
| 18 | Tannic acid extracted from gallnut improves intestinal health with regulation of redox homeostasis and gut microbiota of weaned piglets | Zhang‐Chao Deng, Jie Wang, Juan Wang, Yiqin Yan, Yu‐Xuan Huang, Chiqing Chen, Lv‐Hui Sun, Meng Liu | Lv‐Hui Sun, Meng Liu | Huazhong Agricultural University, China | Animal Research and One Health | 23 | 10.1002/aro2.51 |
| 19 | Precooked state based on protein denaturation kinetics impacts moisture status, protein oxidation and texture of prepared chicken breast | Bowen Wang, Xing Chen, Bowen Yan, Nana Zhang, Yuan Tao, Jian Hu, Jianxin Zhao, Hao Zhang, Wei Chen, Daming Fan | Xing Chen | Jiangnan University, China | Food Chemistry | 23 | 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.140994 |
| 20 | Effects of organic acid blends on the growth performance, intestinal morphology, microbiota, and serum lipid parameters of broiler chickens | Swapnali Waghmare, Mahesh Gupta, K B Bahiram, J P Korde, Rekha Bhat, Yashwant Datar, Pushpendra Rajora, M M Kadam, Megha Kaore, N V Kurkure | N.V. Kurkure | Maharashtra Animal & Fishery Sciences University, India | Poultry Science | 23 | 10.1016/j.psj.2024.104546 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The informative word cloud across the 50 highest 18-month-cited animal nutrition and physiology papers reveals a field organized around poultry production performance, gut microbiology, and oxidative-stress physiology rather than generic livestock labels. Broiler chickens is the most frequently mentioned informative topic, appearing in 11 of 50 papers (normalized frequency 0.22), followed by gut microbiota (10 papers, 0.20) and feed conversion ratio (8 papers, 0.16). A second tier clusters cecal microbiota (6 papers, 0.12) with antioxidant and probiotic markers—glutathione peroxidase, Lactobacillus, and superoxide dismutase each appear in 5 papers (0.10). Larger type further highlights 16S rRNA gene sequencing, carcass traits, meat quality, heat stress, villus height, tight junction proteins, IL-1β, and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (4 papers each, 0.08), signaling that influential 2024 publications increasingly pair broiler and laying-hen trials with cecal sequencing, intestinal morphology readouts, and multi-species probiotic interventions. Laying hens, malondialdehyde, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and volatile flavor compounds appear at moderate prominence, suggesting that high-impact work spans production economics, gut-barrier integrity, meat and egg quality, and flavor chemistry across monogastric species.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparing normalized concept frequencies between the Class of 2025 (2023 publications) and Class of 2026 (2024 publications) cohorts shows a rebalancing of early-high-impact animal nutrition priorities toward gut morphology, named probiotics, and product-quality endpoints, while broad broiler and barrier-integrity framing recedes. Intestinal barrier integrity exhibited the largest decline among leading themes (−0.14 normalized frequency; 10 versus 3 papers), followed by broiler chickens (−0.12; 0.34 to 0.22) and feed conversion ratio (−0.08; 0.24 to 0.16). Bacteroidota and superoxide dismutase each fell −0.08 and −0.06 respectively. The topic evolution card underscores complementary gains: villus height climbed +0.08 (0 to 4 papers), Lactobacillus rose +0.04 (0.06 to 0.10), and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, carcass traits, meat quality, and tight junction proteins each strengthened +0.04 to 0.08. Faecalibacterium, jejunum, and ileum emerged at 0.06 in 2026 after minimal 2025 presence, aligning with more histomorphology- and segment-specific gut studies. Gut microbiota held steady at 0.20, indicating persistent centrality even as cecal microbiota dipped modestly (−0.02). Together, these shifts suggest that the most-cited 2024 papers emphasize named probiotic taxa, villus and crypt metrics, and carcass or meat-quality outcomes over generalized broiler-production and barrier-integrity narratives that dominated the prior cohort.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Animal Nutrition and Physiology Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/animal-nutrition-and-physiology/2026. Accessed 2026-07-14.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```