Impact of Environmental Factors on the Biomass Production of Spirulina in different Conditions

In India, the vegetarian food habit is predominant and plants are the main source of protein for the masses. Thus the use of blue-green algae as a source of protein is justified. Spirulina, a cyanobacterium is the leader in commercial ventures globally because of its multiplication and utilization in cost effective way relative to other algae Chlorella, Scenedesmus and Dunalialla. The production system in Spirulina includes three phases i.e. culturing, harvesting and drying. Each of these is important in the production of high quality Spirulina protein. The factors affecting production of Spirulina have been the subject of extensive study. The Spirulina culture is affected by different factors i.e. nutrient, pH, light intensity, temperature, culture depth and agitation. In present study, the maximum production was found in summer while minimum production was found in monsoon due to warm humid condition that favours bacterial contamination. Spirulina has certain advantages over other best studied algae Chlorella, Scenedesmus, viz. its amenability to a low level of technology and to a system fully devoid of any electrical energy input. A high crude protein content is still another attribute of Spirulina that has got a PER (Protein Efficiency Ratio) higher than other vegetable, cereal and soyaprotein.