529SPIRULINA BIOMASS: OPTIMIZATION OF GROWTH PARAMETERS, PREFORMULATION STUDIES AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTSpirulina has been very popular in the health industry in many countries as a protein supplement. It has a great potential for development as a small-scale crop for nutritional enhancement. It can be considered for livelihood development as its growth is favourable in the tropical climate. As on today, Spirulina is not official in any official compendia and much essential information is not available in literature regarding its preformulation parameters. In the present study the effect of the major growth parameters like light intensity, aeration, pH, content of sodium bicarbonate and material used for cultivation on the yield of Spirulina biomass was investigated. The biochemical analysis like protein, carbohydrate, fat, moisture, vitamin A, iron, copper, zinc, lead and mercury of the harvested product was performed. Different preformulation studies such as FT-IR, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, flow properties and solubility studies were performed for the laboratory cultivated product. A tablet formulation was developed using the same product. The excipients were selected by optimization studies using 32 factorial design. Comparative studies of the in house tablet were carried out with the respective marketed tablet formulation. The investigation provided the optimized conditions for the outdoor growth of Spirulina platensis and essential information on preformulation studies of Spirulina powder which can be applied further for product developmentdrkngujar@gmail.comResearch5112014Spirulina,growth parameters,preformulation,tabletKapasi FS,Mulgund SV,Gujar KN Department of Quality Assurance Techniques, Sinhgad College of Pharmacy, Vadgaon (Bk), Pune, Maharashtra, India, Department of Quality Assurance Techniques, Sinhgad College of Pharmacy, Vadgaon (Bk), Pune, Maharashtra, India, Department of Pharmaceutics, Sinhgad College of Pharmacy, Vadgaon (Bk), Pune, Maharashtra, India