L-malate is an intermediate of the tricarboxylic acid cycle which is naturally occurred in various microorganisms

and it has been widely applied in polymer

beverage and food

textile

agricultural and pharmaceutical industries. Driven by the pursuit of a sustainable economy

microbial production of L-malate has received much attention in last decades. In this review

we focus on the utilization of wastes and/or byproducts as feedstocks for the microbial production of L-malate. Firstly

we present the recent developments on the natural or engineered metabolic pathways that dedicate to the biosynthesis of L-malate

and also provide a comprehensive discussions on developing high-efficient producers. Then

the recent achievements in microbial production of L-malate from various carbon sources were concluded and discussed. Furthermore

some abundant non-food feedstocks which have been used for microbial production of other chemicals were reviewed

as they may be potential candidate feedstock for L-malate production in future. Finally

we outlined the major challenges and proposed further improvements for the production of L-malate.