The contents of 16 kinds of free amino acids （FAAs） in 7 Pyropia yezoensis cultivars were determined by pre-column derivatization high performance liquid chromatographyin early, middle and late harvest period.The results showed that the total FAA content ranged from 48.71 to 62.05 mg/g among the 7 test ma- terials. Among the 16 kinds of FAAs, Ala, Arg, Glu and Asp, four kinds of flavor amino acids, showed the highest contents, and their total content ranged from 36.05 to 53.96 mg/g, accounting for 69.11%-86.47% of the total FAA content. The total contents of flavor amino acids and FAAs all reached the peaks in all the test ma- terials, except the control cultivar, at middle harvest period. The essential amino acid content was trended to be increased in all the test materials with the extended harvest period, and it reached the peak at the late harvest period. Sutong showed the highest flavor amino acid content and FAAs content, followed by Y-H002, Suyan and Sulian, while the control cultivar showed the lowest contents.
