In peanuts, a mechanism of resistance to fungal infection is reported on the synthesis of stilbene phytoalexins, which are antibiotic, low molecular weight metabolites. The phytoalexin-associated response of different peanut varieties to the inoculation with A. flavus has not been investigated and might be useful for breed- ing resistant peanut cultivars. In this study, peanut varieties resistant or susceptible to aflatoxin accumulation caused by A. flavus were selected to compare the synthe- sis differences of the four main stilbenes （resveratrol, ε-viniferin, 6-viniferin and pterostilbene） and the activities of their resistant enzymes （PAL, POD, PPO）, and explore the relationship between stilbene synthesis and resistance to aflatoxin accu- mulation. The results indicated that the synthesis speed of stilbenes was related to the resistance to aflatoxin accumulation in peanuts seeds. The total content of the four stilbenes reached the highest value of 47.37 μg/g in the resistant cultivars （Qian huasheng 3） after inoculation by A. flavus （54 times of the control） on the 3nd day, while the total content of stilbenes in susceptible cultivars （Huayu 22） was 5.5 μg/g. The content of stilbenes and the activities of their resistant enzymes from the resistant cultivars were both higher than from the susceptible one. The four peanut varieties with relative higher stilbene contents and lower disease index and aflatoxin content were selected by using the stilbene content. Very significant negative corre- lation, with correlation coefficients （r） of -0.789, -0.851 and -0.850, was observed between the stilbene content with disease index, the content of aflatoxin B1 and the total content of aflatoxins, respectively. Therefore, the study suggested that the total content of stilbene compounds might serve as an important chemical index in peanut seeds after inoculation with A. flavus on the 3nd day, during screening and breeding of peanut varieties resistant to aflatoxin accumulation.
