Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease caused by many factors, which affects the limb function and daily life of patientsseriously, and is one of the most common joint diseases affecting human health.When OA is severe, it will be irreversible. Therefore, it is critical for the timely detection and diagnosis of OA. Raman spectroscopy shows the potential of minimally invasive, label-free and objective diagnosis at the molecular level. So it is used increasingly in the study of OA. The creative findings and progress of the researches on articular cartilage and OA are reviewed in detail, as well as the limitations and prospects of Raman spectroscopy at home and abroad in future. This review mainly introduces that changes in protein, lipids and nucleic acid components which exit in the extracellular matrix, pericellular matrix, and chondrocytes as well as changes in main components of subchondral bone and synovial fluid.Their corresponding OA feature or physiological functions have been detected by three different Raman spectroscopy techniques that include macro-Raman, micro-Raman and optical fiber Raman modes. This review provides a reference for the coming study of OA and suggests the effectiveness and feasibility of Raman spectroscopy in detecting OA. On the other hand, Raman spectroscopy has many advantages indetection and diagnosis, especially not being affected by water. It is promising to be powerful molecular spectroscopy techniques and clinical tools for early clinical diagnosis and rehabilitation monitoring in this field.