Nutritional value of the visceral mass of three giant African land snail species ( and )

Abstract

Edible snails are very important as food and adequate information is available on their nutritional, medicinal, and economic benefits. Though themore commonly consumed portion is the flesh, some people however consume the visceral mass, hence the need to determine its nutritional benefits. Two structures of the visceral mass (albumen gland and common hermaphrodite duct) of Archachatina marginata, Achatina achatina and Achatina fulica were analyzed to determine their proximate, mineral, and antinutrient  compositions.The albumen glands in the three snail species had higher protein (36.81±0.02% -42.69±0.02%) and carbohydrate contents (0.62±0.01% - 0.72±0.02%) than hermaphroditic duct, while the hermaphroditic ducts had the higher moisture content (78.46±0.02 ±0.01% - 80.55±0.01%). A margin at a had the highest total nutrients value and the highest total anti-nutrients value;A. achatina had the lowest total nutrients value and A. fulica had the lowest total ant-nutrients value. This study showed that the edible parts of the visceral mass are nutritious and suitable to be used as food and feed.