The work aims to introduce the research progress of microbial time-temperature indicator (TTI) in food intelligent packaging, to provide some reference and theoretical basis for the application of TTI in food quality monitoring. The research progress of microbe TTI in intelligent food packaging, the composition of the TTI, including TTI microorganism, culture medium and pH indicator were overviewed. The response mechanism of TTI based on total color difference (ΔE) and titratable acidity (TA) was summarized. The TTI model of microorganism was established, and its application and development trend were analyzed. It is proved by large number of literature that microbial TTI is an effective tool for monitoring the temperature history during food storage and transportation. It has vast potential for future development.