Aquatic plants are one of the most important ecological factors in Chinese mitten crab culture. However, the effects of aquatic plants on growth of Chinese mitten crab, have not been quantitatively evaluated, and their effects on nutritional quality remain vague. In this study, we investigated the influence of an aquatic plant () on growth and nutritional quality of Chinese mitten crab, and compared growth and amino acid and fatty acid composition of adult Chinese mitten crab reared in concrete ponds with and without <0.05) in body weight, carapace length, carapace width, and condition factor between Chinese mitten crabs reared with and without >0.05) in the hepatopancreas or gonado somatic indices were observed between crabs in the two rearing environments. Amino acid, essential amino acid, and flavored amino acid contents in the muscle of Chinese mitten crabs reared in ponds with were significantly higher than those in crabs reared in ponds without <0.05). The flavored amino acid contents in the hepatopancreas of female crabs reared with were significantly higher than those in crabs reared without <0.05), but no differences were detected in males (>0.05). Muscle fatty acid composition and content were not different in crabs reared in the ponds with and without plants. However, saturated fatty acid, monounsaturated fatty acid, and polyunsaturated fatty acid contents in the hepatopancreas were significantly higher in crabs reared in the ( enhances growth of Chinese mitten crab and should help improve the nutritional quality of Chinese mitten crab.