In order to make a scientific evaluation for the nutritional value of Tilapia buttikoferi, based on nutritional components analysis, a comparison was made between the fish and some economic fishes coming from the same family and other freshwater fishes with common quality. The results showed that the content of moisture, crude protein, crude fat and crude ash in the fish fresh muscle was 80.43%, 18.63%, 0.5% and 1.28%, respectively. 16 kinds of amino acids were found in dry muscle, 7 out of them were essential amino acids (EAA). The content of total amino acids (TAA) was 82.03%, and the ratio of EAA to TAA was 40.70%. The essential amino acid index (EAAI) was 73.43%, meeting the high-quality protein standard guided by the Food and Agriculture Organization and Word Health Organization (FAO/WHO). Methionine, cysteine and valine, three limiting amino acids were also found. The content of flavor amino acids (FAA) was 32.13%. There were ten kinds of unsaturated fatty acids, accounting for 65.09% of dry muscle, among of them, oleic acid and linoleic acid, with richness in DHA and DPA, were 28.18% and 17.09%, respectively, and the content of DHA and DPA (relatively lack in fish oil), were 3.32% and 2.78%, respectively. In general, T. buttikoferi, a good freshwater fish with high nutritional value, has a good prospect for edibleness.