Since there is growing interest throughout the world in photosynthetic microbes as a potential source of food or food supplements, an assessment of factors which influence the biomass obtained in bioreactors, protein contents and constituents is important. This work reviews the autotrophic cultivation conditions of Spirulina platensis especially the dependency on the strain, the composition of the nutrient solution, pH, temperature of the medium, light intensity and color as well as exposure rhythm, the flow rate and composition of the aerating gas mixture and the bubble size, the content of oxygen, CO2 and HCO3 in the medium and last but not least from the optical density of the spirulina suspension during growth.
