Abstract: Soil microbial indicator is one of the important biological indicators in evaluating the extent of soil contamination. In recent years, with the development of molecular biology, many studies have focused on the ecological functions of soil microorganisms by using metagenomics, metatranscriptome and metaproteomics.  Relative to metagenomics and metatranscriptome, soil metaproteomics aims to investigate the spatial and temporal changes of the proteins extracted from soil as well as the functional components of soil microbial genomic expression products, which is more conclusive to explore the ecological functions of soil microbes and their roles in soil pollutants transportation and transformation. Therefore, soil metaproteomics has great potential in soil pollution assessment. Currently, soil metaproteomics is still at its infancy stage, while soil protein extraction method is one of the key factors restraining the potential application of soil metaproteomics. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantage of soil metaproteomics in soil pollution assessment were reviewed, with the focus on the comparison of different soil protein extraction methods. In combining with case studies, the feasibility and limits of soil proteins as an indicator for soil pollution assessment were analyzed. In addition, the future research perspectives on the development of soil metaproteomics were discussed.