The feasibility of sugarcane vinasse as supplement in growth medium of Spirulina maxima was investigated. The cell was cultivated under autotrophic (no vinasse, 70 mu mol photons m(-2) s(-1)), heterotrophic (no light, culture medium supplemented with vinasse at 0.1% v/v and 1.0% v/v) and mixotrophic conditions (70 mu mol photons m(-2) s(-1), vinasse at 0.1% v/v and 1.0% v/v). These preliminary results suggested a cyclic two-stage cultivation - CTSC, with autotrophic condition during light phase of the photoperiod (12 h, 70-200 mu mol photons m(-2) s(-1)) and heterotrophic condition during dark phase (12 h, 3.0% v/v vinasse). The adopted CTSC strategy consisted in three cycles with 75% withdrawal of suspension and reposition of medium containing 3.0% v/v vinasse, separated by autotrophic rest periods of few days between cycles. Results show an increase of biomass concentration between 0.495 g L-1 and 0.609 g L-1 at the 7th day of each cycle and high protein content (between 74.3% and 77.3% w/w). (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.