Objective: Fine needle aspiration biopsy is invasive and may lead to spread of tumor cells and a higher possibility of local recurrence, especially for pleomorphic adenomas and malignant tumors. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the utility of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) for differentiation of parotid tumors. Methods: 34 parotid tumors were examined with conventional magnetic resonance imaging and DKI. Data of DKI were analyzed with a diffusion kurtosis estimator to calculate mean kurtosis (MK), mean diffusivity (MD), and fractional anisotropy (FA). The diagnostic accuracy of MK, MD and FA values was evaluated, including sensitivity, specificity, and area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). Results: There were significant differences of benign and malignant parotid tumors in the values of MK, FA and MD (P=0.003, 0.019 and 0.047). Mean MK value of benign parotid tumors was significantly lower than that of malignant parotid tumors (0.728 +/- 0.263 vs. 1.091 +/- 0.253, respectively). Mean FA value of benign parotid tumors was significantly lower than malignant parotid tumors, and mean MD value of benign tumors was significantly higher than malignant tumors. The cut-off point between benign and malignant parotid tumors for MK was 1.053. The sensitivity, specificity and AUC for MK were 75.000%, 91.300% and 0.853, respectively. The AUC for FA and MD in differentiating benign and malignant parotid tumor was 0.783 and 0.739. The sensitivity and specificity for FA and MD were 75.000%, 82.610% and 50.000%, 95.650%, respectively. Conclusion: DKI showed higher specificity and sensitivity than conventional diffusion-weighted and tensor imaging for assessment of benign and malignant parotid tumors. MK enables differentiation and characterization of parotid tumors.