{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T04:35:08Z","timestamp":1791866108492,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,12]],"date-time":"2025-09-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757635200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Subsequent Work Scientific Research Project for the National Three Gorges","award":["YZJ-2019-040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["YZJ-2019-040"]}]},{"name":"Subsequent Work Scientific Research Project for the National Three Gorges","award":["202402AE090472"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202402AE090472"]}]},{"name":"Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology Innovation Project","award":["YZJ-2019-040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["YZJ-2019-040"]}]},{"name":"Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology Innovation Project","award":["202402AE090472"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202402AE090472"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The genus Citrus consists of Tangerines (Citrus \u00d7 reticulata), Mandarins (Citrus \u00d7 reticulata), Oranges (Citrus \u00d7 sinensis), Grapefruits (Citrus maxima), Lemons (Citrus \u00d7 limon), and other citrus fruits. This study investigated the effects of 74 different citrus species and harvesting time on the quality of citrus dark tea using Hubei green brick tea as the raw material. Oranges (Citrus \u00d7 sinensis) were found to outperform other species in improving the quality of citrus dark tea. Additionally, the impact of orange harvesting time (August to December) on the quality of orange dark tea was investigated by using the Peach leaf orange with the highest sensory score as the subject of the study. Results revealed that harvesting time can considerably impact the flavor quality of orange dark tea, but not its infusion color or scent. Specifically, the orange dark tea processed with September-harvested Peach leaf orange exhibited a strong fruity scent, a sweet and smooth flavor, and a harmonious tea and fruit aroma. With the delay of harvesting time, a downtrend was observed in the content of soluble proteins, flavonoids, hesperidin, synephrine, and limonin, as well as total volatile components, with the largest decrease in synephrine and flavonoids. However, the polysaccharide content increased in the peel of Peach leaf orange. Functional analysis revealed that the delay of harvesting time can diminish the inhibitory capacity of orange-dark tea on \u03b1-glucosidase and \u03b1-amylase. Organoleptic quality and physiological activity analysis demonstrated September as the optimal time for harvesting Peach leaf oranges for processing orange dark tea.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods14183181","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,12]],"date-time":"2025-09-12T12:08:16Z","timestamp":1757678896000},"page":"3181","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Effects of Different Citrus Varieties and Harvesting Time on the Quality of Citrus Dark Tea"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Fuwei","family":"Guo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory for Germplasm Innovation and Utilization for Fruit and Vegetable Horticultural Crops, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuanfang","family":"Jiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory for Germplasm Innovation and Utilization for Fruit and Vegetable Horticultural Crops, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0308-3529","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"De","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory for Germplasm Innovation and Utilization for Fruit and Vegetable Horticultural Crops, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8748-847X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhi","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory for Germplasm Innovation and Utilization for Fruit and Vegetable Horticultural Crops, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dejiang","family":"Ni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory for Germplasm Innovation and Utilization for Fruit and Vegetable Horticultural Crops, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Han","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3132-2024","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuqiong","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory for Germplasm Innovation and Utilization for Fruit and Vegetable Horticultural Crops, College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kim, D., Lee, S., Park, S.M., Yun, S.H., Gab, H., Kim, S.S., and Kim, H. 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