BACKGROUND:Calcium phosphate has the similar mineral component of natural bones with good bioactivity, osteoconductivity and degradability. It has been widely used in bone defect repair and coatings of implants. OBJECTIVE:To review the major properties of different-phase calcium phosphate and to summarize the application of calcium phosphate in scaffolds for osteochondral tissue engineering. METHODS:A computer-based search of PubMed, CNKI and VIP database was performed for relevant articles published from January 2000 to February 2015 with the key words of “osteochondral; calcium phosphate (including hydroxyapatite, tricalcium phosphate, calcium polyphosphate); tissue engineering” in Chinese and English, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Since the calcium phosphate has a variety of phases and crystaline types, a variety of materials with different structure and size can be obtained using different techniques, such as hydroxyapatite, tricalcium phosphate, calcium polyphosphate, amorphous calcium phosphate. These materials have some differences in their biological and mechanical properties, and hydroxyapatite is the most widely used. Biocomposite scaffolds with calcium phosphates appeared to have promising potential in osteochondral tissue engineering.