Summary Nisin is a peptide with antibacterial activity against a variety of pathogens. It was originally obtained from a Lactococcus lactis. It is classified as a class I bacteriocin, as it is synthesised by ribosomes and post‐translationally modified. It has been studied extensively and has a wide range of applications in the food industry, biomedicine, veterinary, and research fields. It is approved as a food preservative by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). What's more, nisin, the only antimicrobial peptide that has generally considered as safe (GRAS) status from both World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has the potential to become an important natural antibiotic as bacteria become more resistant to traditional antibiotics. However, nisin purified from biological sources usually results in low yields and high production costs, limiting industrial‐scale manufacturing and application in other fields. Hence, more methods need to be used to optimise the production of nisin. Therefore, this paper aimed to understand the structure and biosynthesis mechanism of nisin and to summarise the innovative methods for increasing the production of nisin using biosynthesis regulation. Biosymthesis, application, optimization of nisin.