Med. Weter. 70 (11), 673-679, 2014
full text
| Paszkiewicz W., Ziomek M., Szkucik K., Maćkowiak-Dryka M. |
| Acquisition and nutritional value of snail meat |
| The intense growth of the food sector as well as international trade in food accompanied by the migration of various peoples during the second half of the twentieth century resulted in the emergence of various new food products on the market. This tendency was the consequence of the search for new sources of animal protein as well as the desire to satisfy ever more extravagant consumer tastes. Food which fulfills both criteria is the edible mollusk (Mollusca), which includes snails (Gastropoda). This study provides the basic information concerning the occurrence in natural conditions and in industrial production of the Helicidae and Achantinidae snails, as well as the production technology of the frozen meat of Helix pomatia and Cornu snails. Moreover, the most important characteristics concerned with energetic value, digestibility, biological value (with special emphasis on the exogennic aminoacid content and the fatty acid profiles) and the organoleptic quality of snail meat are given. In the part concerning the safety of snail meat the obligatory microbiological criteria of the safety of the product as well as the hygienic process of production were presented. The data from the literature on the topic of the occurrence of the most important pathogenic bacteria in the meat of snails (Salmonella sp., L. monocytogenes, gronkowców koagulazododatnich, Bacillus sp., Clostridium sp. and mold and yeasts) were presented, as well as indicator bacteria (E. coli) and other potential disease inducing microorganisms. In the context of other safety threats the problem of snails as vectors of the trematodes Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica as well as bioindicators of heavy metal environmental pollution was discussed. |
| Key words: snail meat, production technology, nutritional value, organoleptic quality, safety |