Abstract The ability of a few soil microorganisms to convert insoluble forms of phosphorus to an accessible form is an important trait in plant growth-promoting bacteria for increasing plant yields. The use of phosphate solubilizing bacteria as inoculants increases the P uptake by plants. In this study, isolation, screening and characterization of 36 strains of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) from Central Taiwan were carried out. Mineral phosphate solubilizing (MPS) activities of all isolates were tested on tricalcium phosphate medium by analyzing the soluble-P content after 72 h of incubation at 30 °C. Identification and phylogenetic analysis of 36 isolates were carried out by 16S rDNA sequencing. Ten isolates belonged to genus Bacillus, nine to genus Rhodococcus, seven to genus Arthrobacter, six to genus Serratia and one each to genera Chryseobacterium, Delftia, Gordonia and Phyllobacterium. In addition, four strains namely, Arthrobacter ureafaciens, Phyllobacterium myrsinacearum, Rhodococcus erythropolis and Delftia sp. are being reported for the first time as phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) after confirming their capacity to solubilize considerable amount of tricalcium phosphate in the medium by secreting organic acids. P-solubilizing activity of these strains was associated with the release of organic acids and a drop in the pH of the medium. HPLC analysis detected eight different kinds of organic acids, namely: citric acid, gluconic acid, lactic acid, succinic acid, propionic acid and three unknown organic acids from the cultures of these isolates. An inverse relationship between pH and P solubilized was apparent from this study. Identification and characterization of soil PSB for the effective plant growth-promotion broadens the spectrum of phosphate solubilizers available for field application.