Production of microbial chitinases have received increased attention in rec
ent years due to its potential application in various fields. There has bee
n an all around effort to increase the production of chitinases by using ge
netically engineered organisms and by incorporating modern fermentation tec
hniques. This review presents a brief outline on the production of microbia
l chitinases which includes information on random screening and selection o
f chitinolytic organisms and the rationale behind the use of genetically en
gineered organisms. The problems and perspectives involved in large scale p
roduction of chitinases is discussed with special reference to bioreactor s
tudies and new fermentation methods. The present limitations in the underst
anding of the chitinase fermentation process is also discussed and the scop
e for future investigation is outlined in this communication.