Comparison of total flavonoids content in 14 species of Camellia sect.Chrysantha

There are rich flavonoids in leaves of Camellia sect.Chrysantha.The total flavonoids content in leaves of 14 species of Camellia sect.Chrysantha were extracted using 70% ethanol as extracting solvent by ultrasonic wave and were determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometry in this study,with rutin as a standard sample at 273nm.The content differences among species were analyzed.The results showed that the total flavonoids content in new leaves of C.pingguoensis(22.011%)was highest and the lowest was the one-year-old leaves of C.tunghinensis(1.518%).There were significant differences of the total flavonoids in different leaf ages of the same species.The total flavonoids content in new leaves is higher than that in one-year-old or two-year-old leaves.C.pingguoensis and C.limonia had the potential value of research and exploit with higher total flavonoids content.