The invention relates to a beneficiation activating agent for sphalerite and marmatite and a method for reducing zinc in iron ore concentrate through flotation. The activating agent is amino acid or a mixture containing the amino acid, wherein the amino acid is one or more of asparaginic acid, asparaginic acid hydrochloride, glutamic acid, glutamic acid hydrochloride, threonine and serine. According to the method for reducing zinc in iron ore concentrate through flotation by using the activating agent, the activating agent is added into low-intensity magnetic separation iron ore concentrate pulp, then a collecting agent and a foaming agent are added, one-time roughing and one-time concentration are carried out, sphalerite and marmatite are floated out, the zinc content in the obtained iron ore concentrate is as low as 0.02% or below, and the iron loss amount is smaller than 5%. According to the invention, the problems that conventional activating agents of sphalerite and marmatite are poor in activating selectivity, zinc impurities in the iron ore concentrate are difficult to deeply remove, and the iron loss in the zinc reducing process is large are solved, the method is simple, easy to operate and good in zinc reducing effect, the zinc content can be reduced to 0.02% or below, and the requirement of the high-purity iron ore concentrate for the content of the zinc impurities is met.