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Issues Mol. Biol.","CIMB"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Flavonoids, prominent bioactive compounds in citrus fruits, exhibit diverse health-promoting properties. However, the dynamic compositional changes in flavonoids during fruit development remain insufficiently characterized in Citrus reticulata \u2018Shiyue Ju\u2019 (STJ) and C. reticulata \u2018Denglong Ju\u2019 (DLJ). In this study, a comprehensive untargeted metabolomics approach was employed to systematically analyze the flavonoid profiles in both peel and flesh tissues across six key developmental stages, leading to the putative annotation of 205 flavonoids. Heatmap analysis revealed higher flavonoid levels in SP-4 (STJ peel in stage 4) compared to DP-4 (DLJ peel in stage 4), potentially resulting from the substantial upregulation of genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis during this period. Furthermore, S-plot analysis identified salvigenin, demethylnobiletin, and nobiletin as key discriminators in the peel of STJ (SP), whereas sinensetin, tangeretin, and 3\u2032,4\u2032,5,7-tetramethoxyflavone were predominant in the peel of DLJ (DP). These compounds could represent potential biochemical markers for varietal differentiation. Notably, SP exhibited higher levels of neohesperidin, hesperidin, naringin, and naringenin, suggesting enhanced health-promoting properties. The results enhance our understanding of flavonoid dynamics during citrus development and provide valuable implications for quality-oriented cultivation and genetic improvement.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cimb48080774","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T17:01:46Z","timestamp":1785344506000},"page":"774","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Metabolomics Reveals the Dynamic Characteristics of Flavonoids During the Different Developmental Stages of Citrus reticulata \u2018Shiyue Ju\u2019 and Its Mutant C. reticulata \u2018Denglong Ju\u2019"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"48","author":[{"given":"Qin","family":"Guan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangxi Key Laboratory of Fruits and Vegetables Storage-Processing Technology, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning 530007, China"},{"name":"The SATCM Key Laboratory for New Resources & Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Doudou","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The SATCM Key Laboratory for New Resources & Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangxi Key Laboratory of Fruits and Vegetables Storage-Processing Technology, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning 530007, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zongyou","family":"Lv","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The SATCM Key Laboratory for New Resources & Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1016\/j.indcrop.2017.10.009","article-title":"Citrus reticulata Blanco peels as a source of antioxidant and anti-proliferative phenolic compounds","volume":"111","author":"Ferreira","year":"2018","journal-title":"Ind. 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