Commercial rolled Mg-3Al-1Zn (AZ31) alloy sheet was used as the experimental material, an Mg-air battery based on its rolling surface (RS) and cross-section surface (CS) were both prepared to study the effect of texture on the performance of Mg-air battery. And the experimental samples had a similar surfaceSroughness to practical application, which was different to the reported studies (the studies about the influence of texture on the electrochemical behavior of Mg alloys). The impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of the samples. The resusts showed that CS surface was more corrosion resistance compared with that of the RS surface. The battery performance was studied by constant current discharge test, the result showed that the Mg-air battery based on the CS surface anode has higher anode efficiency (71.3%) compared with that of the Mg-air battery based on the RS sursace anode (65.7%). The surface morphologies of the magnesium alloy anodes substrate after discharged for 24h were observed by scanning electron microscope. The RS anode exhibited a magnesium alloy anode substrate with more holes and gullies, which may contribute to its lower anode efficiency. Thus, the CS anode dominated by (10-10), (11-20) and (10-11) orientated grains was more suitable to be used on Mg-air battery.