Objective  Optimal time for harvesting Camellia nitidissima flowers was investigated.

  Method   The primary functional ingredients (such as, total flavonoids, tea polyphenols, total saponins, and crude polysaccharide) and the major nutrients (such as, amino acids, protein, crude fat, crude fiber, and ash) of the camellia flowers at budding, fish-mouth, semi-open, blooming, and withering stages were determined for the evaluation.

  Result  The flowers at the semi-open stage had the highest contents of total flavonoids, tea polyphenols, and total saponin. They were followed by those at the fish-mouth and blooming stages. The flowers at all stages contained 7 essential amino acids but varied in different aspects. The total amino acids, pharmacologically functional amino acids, and savory amino acids were 5.46 g·hg⁻¹, 3.36 g·hg⁻¹ , and 1.35 g·hg⁻¹, respectively, in the fish-mouth flowers which were higher than those at other 4 stages. The score of ratio coefficient (SRC) on amino acids in the flowers at budding, fish-mouth, semi-open, blooming, and withering stages were 59.31, 62.08, 56.67, 57.84, and 57.75, respectively. Methionine and cysteine were the most limiting amino acids in the flowers. The protein content of 5.85 g·hg⁻¹ was highest at fish-mouth stage; the relatively rich fiber content ranging between 16.8 g·hg⁻¹ and 17.5 g·hg⁻¹existed at all stages; the fat peaked at withering and followed by fish-mouth stage; and the ash content of 3.64-3.88 g·hg⁻¹ did not vary much by florescence stages. An overall ranking on the nutrition scores of the flowers at different stages was budding＞fish-mouth＞semi-opening＞withering＞blooming. The weight and morphology of individual camellia flowers at fish-mouth and semi-open stages showed a similar commercial value but a significant increase of 11.9% on yield over the traditional harvesting period.

  Conclusion  C. nitidissima flowers in the fish-mouth and semi-open stages had relatively high contents of functional ingredients and nutrients, in addition to a significantly higher yield over those picked at other stages as traditionally practiced.