Analysis of Chemical Components in Tangerine Peel Flower Tea by Ultra‐Performance Liquid Chromatography‐Q‐Exactive Orbitrap Tandem Mass Spectrometry and High‐Performance Liquid Chromatography‐Photodiode Array

Tea has long been consumed in China as a significant part of wellness practices. Tangerine Peel Flower Tea, meticulously developed as a beverage with throat‐moistening and liver‐protecting functions, is formulated with tangerine peel and licorice as its core ingredients, supplemented with other medicinal and edible herbs such as chrysanthemum and jujube. However, a comprehensive understanding of its chemical composition remains to be elucidated. In this study, the chemical component of Tangerine Peel Flower Tea was comprehensively analyzed using ultra‐performance liquid chromatography‐Q‐Exactive Orbitrap tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 134 components were preliminarily identified through the integration of chromatographic retention time, m/z values, and secondary fragments. These encompassed 80 flavonoids and their glycosides, 16 terpenoids, eight phenylpropanoids, five alkaloids, and 25 other components. Additionally, a high‐performance liquid chromatography‐photodiode array (HPLC‐PDA) was established to enable the concurrent quantification of six main constituents in 20 batches of Tangerine Peel Flower Tea. The results showed that the contents of the six components ranked from high to low as follows: hesperidin (4.164–10.822 mg·g −1 ), glycyrrhizic acid (1.463–5.953 mg·g −1 ), nobiletin (0.831–1.637 mg·g −1 ), tangeretin (0.558–1.160 mg·g −1 ), chlorogenic acid (0.456–1.037 mg·g −1 ), and ferulic acid (0.084–0.208 mg·g −1 ). The established HPLC method demonstrated acceptable feasibility and reliability through methodological validation. This study promotes the quality standardization of Tangerine Peel Flower Tea and supports the further development and utilization of tangerine peel.