Nutritional values, phytochemical composition and bioactivities of Sclerocarya birrea (Marula) seeds and its potential applications: Current research and future directions

• Limited research exists on the potential of Marula seed oil for food safety. • Marula seeds contain essential nutrients, phytochemicals, and bioactive substances. • Marula seeds hold untapped potential antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. • Marula seeds have substantial potential for various industrial applications. Extensively utilized by indigenous communities for generations, marula products, particularly the fruit, have successfully transitioned into the commercial market. However, despite the high potential and versatile applications, the marula seeds remain under-explored. Hence, through a hybrid approach (bibliometric analysis and systematic review), this review deeply analysed the existing literature on the nutritional values, phytochemical compounds and bioactivities of marula seeds in the Scopus database to identify the emerging trends and research gaps to offer an extensive roadmap for future research. The study focused on over 94 marula seeds-based documents extracted from the Scopus database from 1985 to 11th September 2024. Network visualisation, research performance statistics, and key contributors were generated using Vosviewer and R software. The study revealed that research on marula seeds is assumed by 337 authors, and the annual growth of research is about 3.54 %. South Africa is the leading country in the studied field. Research gaps identified encompass limited research on the micronutrients, sugars and proteins of marula seeds, a lack of studies investigating the antifungal activity of marula seed oil, and the under-exploration of phytochemicals and biological activities of the marula seeds. Therefore, future studies should focus on a comprehensive analysis of these research themes in marula seed parts to facilitate their integration into the commercial industry or to promote marula seed (oil) as a sustainable alternative to conventional techniques for food preservation like meat, fruit, and vegetables.