The contents of amino acids in the leg back side muscle between femur and hip in Saba ham were determined by amino acid analyzer during fermentation. The results showed that the free amino acids in the muscles during fermentation first increased and then decreased. In the middle of fermentation, the content of free amino acids reached the largest value, accounting for 5.39% of the products. The free amino acids with high contents were Glu, Lys, Phe and Ile, and the lower-content ones were Cys, Pro, Tyr and Arg. Different free amino acids may play an important role of Saba ham flavor.