The biochemical route is identified to be one of the simplest and cheapest means by which valuable chemicals are being synthesized. Microorganisms play a vital role in carrying out these processes. However, the kinetic studies relevant to this process is scarce. Most often inhibition effects due to either cells or substrates or products affect the performance of such processes. This paper deals with the study of various model equations for substrate inhibition kinetics. An attempt has been made to study the applicability of various model equations for substrate inhibited systems by fitting their experimental data and evaluating various parameters including the standard deviations in each case. Finally, a new model has been brought out which gives the best fit for almost all the systems. © 1994 Springer-Verlag.