Grass carp （Ctenopharyngodon idellus） in two farming modes were selected as materials，the differences between the muscle quality （color，texture，and cooking loss），nutritional components （composition of amino acids and fatty acids），and flavor properties （free amino acids，free fatty acids，nucleotide and its degradation products，and volatile aroma compounds） were analyzed to explore the influence of aquaculture mode on the nutritional quality and eating quality of grass carp. Compared with ordinary pond farming，planting grass farming improved the color，textural properties，water holding capacity and mouthfeel of grass carp muscle. The muscle from grass carp cultured by planting grass contained higher essential amino acids and n-3 PUFA and n-6 PUFA，enhancing the nutritional quality of grass carp. Additionally，the contents of odorous compounds such as 1-hexanol，nonanal，1-octen-3-ol and octanal were significantly lower in grass carp cultured by planting grass than those in the grass carp cultured in ordinary pond. Moreover，the contents of amino acids with umami and sweet tastes were higher in grass carp cultured by planting grass，improving the edible quality of grass carp. In conclusion，grass carp cultured by planting grass owned better nutritional and edible qualities than that by ordinary pond farming.