Determination of the Nutritional Properties of Snail Meat and Its Comparative Analysis with Other Animal Species

In Ukraine, in today’s conditions, snails, which are widely used for food in a number of European countries, are of increased interest. Over the past few years, this type of shellfish has been intensively harvested for processing and exporting abroad. However, there is not much data on the nutritional properties of snail meat, and there is practically no such information in Ukraine. The aim of this study is to determine the chemical composition (wet, dry matter, and energy value) of raw and cooked snail meat Helix aspersa maxima, Helix aspersa muller, Helix pomatia and conducting their comparative analysis among themselves with other types of meat. Indicators of nutritional properties were determined according to the following methods. The moisture and fat content was determined according to DSTU ISO 1442:2005; DSTU ISO 1443:2005, respectively. The mass fraction of dry matter, protein, ash, and caloric content of meat was determined by the methods described by P.V. Zhitenko and others. Comparative analysis of snail meat with other animal species was carried out based on literature sources. In the study, the authors found that on average in snails of the following species: Helix aspersa maxima, Helix aspersa muller, Helix pomatia it contains moisture – 72.03±0.29% and dry matter – 27.97±0.29%, of which: protein – 22.83±0.3%, fat – 0.23±0.03%, carbohydrates – 2.07±0.17%. It was determined that the indicators of moisture, dry matter, protein, fat, carbohydrates, ash and energy value in snails of all three species taken in the experiment did not differ significantly from each other. At the same time a sample of boiled snail meat Helix pomatia it has a higher chemical composition compared to the other two types of snails, namely: dry matter (28.5%), protein (23.4%), fat (0.3%) and energy value (103.9 kcal/100 g). Comparing the obtained data on the study of the chemical composition of raw and boiled meat of the same snail species, it was found that boiled meat is 14.2% more energetically valuable than raw, both in kCal/100 g and in kJ/100 g. We consider determining changes in organs at the cellular level, that is, conducting histological studies, taking into account different periods: hibernation, after hibernation and during the active period of their vital activity, to be a promising area of further research