Snail meat, a newly discovered old source of protein in the human diet

The aim of this study was to determine the physicochemical parameters, i.e. water, protein, fat, ash, sodium and carbohydrate content and energy value, as well as fatty acid composition and pH of snail meat from two species, Cornu aspersum maximum and Cornu aspersum Müller. The snail meat was found to have relatively high protein content (13.12 g/100 g vs. 16.53 g/100 g), low fat content (0.89 g/100 g vs. 1.21 g/100 g), and low energy value (343.8 kJ vs. 379.2 kJ). The pH of snail meat was very high (8.59 vs. 8.19). On average, snail meat has a favourable fatty acid composition as it contains 27.08 wt. % saturated (SFA), 19.00 wt. % monounsaturated, and 53.92 wt. % polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). It has a favourable PUFA/SFA ratio (1.99), but an unfavourable n-6/n-3 ratio (20.33) and a relatively high proportion of trans fatty acids (3.93 wt. %). The fatty acid profile of snail meat is dominated by linoleic acid (20.89 wt. %), arachidonic acid (13.27 wt. %), oleic acid (12.67 wt. %), nonadecanoic acid (10.23 wt. %), and stearic acid (10.08 wt.%). The aim of our study was also to verify the culinary value of snail meat. For this purpose, two snail meat pâtés of acceptable sensory quality were prepared. The panel evaluated the sensory quality of the pâté made from the meat (foot and liver) of the snail Cornu aspersum Müller significantly worse than the pâté made from the meat of the snail Cornu aspersum maximum, mainly due to the unpleasant aroma, in which the soapy, sweet and spicy components predominated, as well as the absence of the snail meat aroma.