Abstract: To compare the effects of different citrus(Citrus reticulata Blanco) varieties and processing methods on the yield and quality of tangerine peel, the processing technology of tangerine peel was aimed to be optimized. Eight citrus varieties planted in Hubei Province were used as test objects. Two peel pretreatment methods(scalding and non-scalding) and four drying conditions(45, 55, 65 ℃, and room temperature shade-drying) were adopted for processing. The indicators including peel extraction rate, drying matter rate, and hesperidin content were measured. The results showed that in terms of yield factors, the variety had an extremely significant effect on the peel extraction rate of tangerine peel, while pretreatment had no significant effect; both pretreatment and variety had an extremely significant effect on the dry matter rate of tangerine peel; the interaction between variety and pretreatment had an extremely significant effect on peel extraction rate but no significant effect on dry matter ratio. Regarding hesperidin content, under the same pretreatment conditions, drying temperature had no significant effect on the hesperidin content of the same variety; scalding pretreatment significantly reduced the hesperidin content of Dapu, Rinan No.1, and Shijihong; different pretreatments and drying temperatures had no significant effect on the hesperidin content of Dafen No.4, Guoqing No.1, Xingjin, and Guijing. Multifactor analysis of variance showed that both variety and pretreatment had an extremely significant effect on hesperidin content, with variety having the greatest effect, while the main effect of drying temperature was not significant; the interaction between variety and pretreatment had an extremely significant effect on hesperidin content, and the three-way interaction among variety, pretreatment, and drying temperature was not significant.

Key words: citrus(Citrus reticulata Blanco), tangerine peel, peel extraction rate, dry matter ratio, hesperidin, yield, quality