2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, a characteristic aroma component in rice, directly affects the quality and price of rice. Therefore, the research on the accurate detection method of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline is of great significance to clarify the aroma mechanism, improve the quality and promote import and export trade for rice. This paper reviews current major pretreatment methods, detection technologies by GC, GC-MS, GC-O-MS, GC-TOF-MS, and HPLC-MS/MS, the advantages and disadvantages of various methods and the research progress of the formation mechanism of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, aiming to provide reference for the accurate detection of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline and the improvement of rice quality.