Flavonoids, a class of natural drugs with broad biological activity, exhibit inhibitory effect on alpha-amylase. Citrus peel is a good source of flavonoids. The real-time interactions between three Citrus flavonoids (naringin, neohesperidin, hesperidin) and alpha-amylase were investigated by surface plasmon resonance biosensor, and were compared with the alpha-amylase inhibitors, acarbose. These results showed the binding affinities of naringin, neohesperidin and hesperidin with alpha-amylase reach the highest at pH 6 with K-D values of 2.27 +/- 0.18 mM, 3.09 +/- 0.20 mM and 3.51 +/- 0.09 mM, and can be reinforced with 0.2 M NaCl and 0.1 M CaCl2, respectively. The results of 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical assay indicate that the antioxidant activities of naringin, neohesperidin and hesperidin are significantly inhibited by interacting with alpha-amylase, and the inhibition percentage are 47.61 +/- 0.034%, 22.81 +/- 0.037% and 21.01 +/- 0.051%, respectively. Additionally, it is found that both the number and the position of hydroxyl group play an important role in the interaction of three Citrus flavonoids and alpha-amylase. These results provide useful information for rapid screening inhibitors of alpha-amylase from plant-based food. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.