ABSTRACT
Objective:To study the differences in genetic relationship， shape， size， and flavonoid content between traditional and nontraditional medicinal varieties of Citri Reticulatae Semen produced in Sichuan province as well as their equivalence. Method:Six batches of traditional medicinal Citri Reticulatae Semen （<italic>Citrus reticulata</italic> 'Dahongpao'） and 23 batches of nontraditional medicinal varieties were collected， and their genetic relationship was explored using sequence-related amplified polymorphism （SRAP） markers. Following the observation of their shapes and sizes under a stereomicroscope， the contents of naringin， hesperidin， and neohesperidin were measured by high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC）. SIMCA 14.1 software was used for cluster analysis of their shapes， sizes， and flavonoid contents， thus figuring out the similarities between the traditional and nontraditional medicinal varieties in character， size， and chemical components. Result:SRAP markers-based genetic relationship analysis effectively distinguished different Citri Reticulatae Semen varieties from each other. Some samples collected from the same or adjacent places exhibited a close genetic relationship and they shared high similarities in shape， size， and flavonoid content. However， the traditional medicinal Citri Reticulatae Semen was still quite different from most nontraditional medicinal varieties. Conclusion:The analysis of differences in genetic materials， appearance， character， and active ingredient content between the traditional and nontraditional medicinal varieties revealed that the equivalence<italic> </italic>of <italic>C.</italic> <italic>reticulata</italic> 'Ponkan' samples from some regions with the traditional medicinal variety was the largest， enabling them to be considered as the emerging medicinal variety.