Magnetic refrigeration based on the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) becomes a topic of internationally current interest. This enabling technology provides several advantages (e.g, high energy efficiency, small volume, non-pollution) over a conventional gas compression technique. It depends heavily upon the magnitude of MCE of magnetic substances that are used as working refrigerants. Therefore, current research is focused on a search for new materials that are low cost and exhibit small magnetic field-induced large MCEs. This paper aims to review the recent developments of a new class of magnetocaloric material, namely, ferromagnetic manganites (R1-xMxMnO3, where R = La, Nd, Pr and M= Ca, Sr, Ba, etc.). The good magnetocaloric properties of ferromagnetic manganites in addition to their flexibility and cost-effectives make them very promising for active magnetic refrigeration (AMR) applications in the temperature range of 30-375 K. (c) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.