Abstract:This study aims to explore the difference in free amino acids among seeds of three Glycyrrhiza species.To be specific，the types and content of the free amino acids were determined by amino acid analyzer.Ratio coefficient of amino acid （RC），taste activity value （TAV），correlation analysis，principal component analysis，and clustering analysis were used for comprehensive evaluation.The results showed that seeds of the three Glycyrrhiza species were rich in amino acids（17 kinds，total content:8.10 mg/g-12.87 mg/g）and that the content of various amino acids was different among seeds of the three species.Seeds of Glycyrrhiza inflata topped the three species in amino acid content，and the score of RC of essential amino acids stood at 69.02.Among the flavor amino acids，umami amino acids accounted for the largest proportion （51.95%），and glutamine was the main contributor.The content of medicinal amino acids was also high（70.59%-73.19%）.Seeds of G.inflata won the highest comprehensive score（4.16）.Clustering analysis roughly classified various types of amino acids into two categories.The clustering analysis result was consistent with that of principal component analysis，which reflected the difference in amino acids among seeds of different species.Seeds of Glycyrrhiza boast many kinds of amino acids and are rich in flavor amino acids and medicinal amino acids，which are thus of high nutritional value and show potential as a nutritional food.