A bibliometrics visualization analysis and hotspots prediction for natural product on osteoporosis research from 2000 to 2021

•The bibliometrix package, VOSviewer and CiteSpace software are used to make a intuitive visualization analysis of natural product in osteoporosis research from 2000 to 2021 for the first time.•This study reveals the current application status of natural medicines in osteoporosis research and explore potential research hotspots, and guide future research directions.•The study makes suggestions and prospects on the development trend of natural product in osteoporosis research, which can help researchers to open up new directions for future research. The purpose of this study was to explore the application status of natural products in osteoporosis research and explore its research hotspots and future research directions by analyzing the literature in the field of natural products therapy for osteoporosis from 2000 to 2021. Publications on natural products in osteoporosis research were extracted from the Web of Science core collection database. Bibliometrics package in R language, VOSviewer and CiteSpace software were used for visualization analysis. From 2000 to 2021, the number of articles on natural products in osteoporosis research was 1596, and the total number of articles increased rapidly. China was the driving force in this field, and the top-contributing institution was Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine. Most publications were published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology. While J.K. Xu and Y. Zhang were the most cited and co-cited author. Countries, research institutions and authors in different regions cooperate closely. The hot topics included osteoporosis, differentiation, expression, in vitro, cell, osteogenesis and osteogenesis were the research frontiers in recent years. This study conducted a bibliometric visualization analysis on the research status, research hotspots and development trend of natural products in osteoporosis for the first time. In addition, this paper also puts forward suggestions and prospects for the future development of this field, which will help researchers to open up new directions for future research in this field.