Comparison of Proximate and Amino Acid Composition between Farmed and Wild Land Snails (Cornu aspersum Müller, 1774)

Helix aspersa aspersa flour: An evaluation for dietary supplementation

This study assesses the nutritional composition and safety of lab-produced snail flour derived from Helix aspersa aspersa, an herbivorous pulmonated gastropod mollusc that occupies various trophic levels in food chains. Our analysis focused on key nutritional aspects, including moisture, ash, protein, and fat contents. Contaminant analysis on the powder showed levels below detectable limits for PAHs, PCBs, PBDEs. The heavy metal concentration was found to be either on par with or lower than values reported in existing literature, indicating the safety of these snail powders for human consumption. Our results revealed a notable presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids and essential amino acids and strongly support the idea that snail powders can serve as sustainable protein sources in both human and animal diets.

Nutritional profile of the land snail Cyclophorus saturnus, a rich-in-nutrients food item from Thailand

Cyclophorus saturnus is an edible land snail traditionally harvested for human food, yet little is known about its nutritional value, especially in Thailand. This study aimed to investigate its nutritional potential as an alternative food resource. In the present study, proximate composition, essential mineral content, amino acid, and lipid profiles of the meat were evaluated. Proximate analysis showed that C. saturnus contained 80.04% moisture, 11.88% protein, 6.04% carbohydrate, and 0.93% fat, with 80.01 kcal/100 g fresh matter. For minerals, calcium was the most abundant element in the meat. Its protein contained glutamic and aspartic as the major amino acids, while it was not a good source of tryptophan and methionine but was considered a very rich source of other essential amino acids (amino acid scores greater than 100). Its lipid fraction showed a higher proportion of mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids (MUFA and PUFA, 67.69%) and a lower proportion of saturated fatty acids (SFA) (32.31%). The PUFA/SFA ratio (1.56), hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio (HH; 5.58), atherogenicity index (AI; 0.48), and thrombogenicity index (TI; 0.20) are considered nutritionally healthy for humans. Overall, this study demonstrates the nutritional potential of C. saturnus to serve as a nutritious part of the human diet and as an alternative ingredient in food systems; therefore, its production and consumption should be more extensively promoted.

Edible Snail Production in Europe

Simple Summary

Edible snails are a good source of easily digestible nutrients. They are easy to breed and their farming is more environmentally friendly than traditional livestock: they need little space, use less feed per kg of growth, and emit significantly less greenhouse gases. This review aims to present the most important issues related to the breeding of edible snails in European conditions: their importance, maintaining systems, the value of meat and caviar, and the feed used during the animals’ rearing and fattening period.

Abstract

The human population is growing; food production is becoming insufficient, and the growing awareness of the negative impact of traditional animal husbandry on the environment means that the search for alternative methods of providing animal protein is continuously underway. The breeding of edible snails seems to be a promising option. The most popular species of edible snails in Europe include the brown garden snail Cornu aspersum (Müller, 1774) (previously divided into two subspecies: Cornu aspersum aspersum (Müller, 1774) and Cornu aspersum maxima (Taylor, 1883)), as well as the Roman Snail—Helix pomatia Linnaeus, 1758. These animals are highly productive, require relatively little space, are easy to breed and their maintenance does not require large financial outlays. This review focuses on the prospects of food snail farming in Europe. It discusses the living conditions, the nutritional value of the snails’ meat, and the way of feeding the animals, paying particular attention to issues still not scientifically resolved, such as the need for micro and macro elements, as well as fat and carbohydrates.

Farming the Edible Aquatic Snail Pomacea canaliculata as a Mini-Livestock

In the present paper, we describe the farming system of Pomacea canaliculata, an edible freshwater snail, as it is practiced by a farmer as mini-livestock in the vicinity of Andong in Korea. We visited the snail farm several times in the summer and winter of the year and conducted interviews with the farm manager using a semi-structured questionnaire. The farm is housed in polythene tunnels and uses a tank pen of trench type made up of propylene and measuring 1 m × 2 m × 0.5 m (length × width × height) in size. A regulated inflow of fresh water and outflow of used water was installed, with water level not exceeding 5 to 7 cm. As feed of snails, commercial fish feed is generally provided. The life cycle of the P. canaliculata might differ in captivity under the controlled environmental conditions than that of an individual in the wild environment. The farming system of snails, particularly P. canaliculata, does not involve high labor-intensive, high capital investment and also does not require high through-put cutting edge technology. In addition to providing nutrient-dense snail meat, establishing a snailery could therefore augment the economic condition of farmers in the poorer regions of the world and encourage sustainability and biodiversity conservation.

Impact of Ag Nanoparticles (AgNPs) and Multimicrobial Preparation (EM) on the Carcass, Mineral, and Fatty Acid Composition of Cornu aspersum aspersum Snails

The hygienic practices on farms should reduce pathogenic microorganisms while simultaneously not harming the animals themselves; they must also not degrade the products' quality. We assessed the effect of covering feed tables with paint containing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and the periodic spraying of effective microorganisms (EM) on production indicators and basic chemical composition, mineral content and fatty acid profiles in the bodies of Cornu aspersum aspersum snails. The animals were divided into four groups: (1) control, (2) with feed tables covered with AgNPs paint, (3) with EM spray applied and (4) with both factors-AgNP paint and EM spray. The highest increase in Ag, Zn, Fe and Ca retention, and the remodelling of the fatty acid profile in the carcasses of snails was found to be in the group of animals in contact with the feed tables covered with AgNP paint. In the group of animals exposed to the action of EM, an increased retention of Fe, Cu, P, Mg and Zn was found.