Sugar (carbohydrate) epimerases catalyze the reversible conversion of a sugar epimer into its counterpart form. More than 20 types of sugar epimerase have been reported to date, and their biological properties, catalytic mechanisms, and 3D structures are very diverse among them. Recently, microbial sugar epimerases have been characterized in detail. This review surveys the catalytic aspects of microbial epimerases, which are relevant for production of bioactive mono- and oligosaccharides.