Succinic acid produced by various microorganisms can be used as a precursor of many industrially important chemicals in food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The assessment of raw material cost and the estimation of the potential market size clearly indicate that the current petroleum-based succinic acid process will be replaced by the fermentative succinic acid production system in the foreseeable future. This paper reviews processes for fermentative succinic acid production, especially focusing on the use of several promising succinic acid producers including Actinobacillus succinogenes, Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens, Mannheimia succiniciproducens and recombinant Escherichia coli. Processes for the recovery of succinic acid from fermentation broth are also reviewed briefly. Finally, we suggest further works required to improve the strain performance suitable for successful commercialization of fermentative succinic acid production. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.