Nutritional and toxicological studies of New Zealand Cookia sulcata

Interest in snails as a source of protein and as a delicacy is increasing in many countries. The present study investigated selected nutritional (proximate, amino acid, fatty acid, vitamin E, cholesterol and macro- and trace minerals) and toxic (toxic elements and organochlorine) concentrations of small and large (<= 60 and >60 g whole animal weight, respectively) Captain Cook snails (Cookia sulcata). The major amino acids in C. sulcata muscle were glutamic (13.9 g/100 g protein), arginine (10.2 g/100 g protein), glycine (9.5 g/100 g protein) and taurine (9.5 g/100 g protein). There was no difference in the amino acid profiles related to the snail size. C sulcata had relatively high amounts of saturated fatty acids (44.4%) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (34.3%), and lesser amounts of mono-unsaturated fatty acids. The major fatty acids detected in C. sulcata were C16:0, C18:0, C20:4 and C22:5, which accounted for more than 60% of the total fatty acids. Snail size had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on the C16:0 and C18:3 concentrations. The only isoform of vitamin E present in C. sulcata was identified as alpha-tocopherol at 2.16 and 3.71 mg/100 g fresh weight for the small and large snails, respectively. The average cholesterol concentration in C sulcata was 1.33 mg/100 g fresh weight. The results indicated that none of the toxic elements, including Al, Ni, As and Pb of C sulcata, were over the maximum concentration allowed in the Australia New Zealand Food Standard; and the organochlorine pesticides concentrations in C. sulcata were below the detection limit (<0.0005 mg/kg). C sulcata could, therefore, be utilized for special dietary applications requiring higher amounts of Fe, Zn, taurine and tryptophan. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.