The aim of graduation thesis was to determine the physico-chemical parameters, i.e. the content of water, protein, fat, ash, sodium, carbohydrates and energy value, as well as the fatty acid composition and the pH value of the snail meat, originated from two species, Helix aspersa Maxima and Helix aspersa Müller. It was found that the snail meat contains a relatively high content of proteins (13.12 g/100 g vs. 16.53 g/100 g), a low content of fat (0.89 g/100 g vs.1.21 g/100 g) and has low energy value (339.6 kJ vs. 374.2 kJ). pH value of snail meat is very high (8.59 vs. 8.19). On average, the snail meat has a favourable fatty acid composition as it contains 27.08 wt. % of saturated, 19.00 wt. % of monounsaturated, and 53.92 wt. % of polyunsaturated fatty acids from the total fatty acids. It has favourable P/S ratio (1.99), but an unfavourable ratio of n-6/n-3 (20.3:1) and a large proportion of trans fatty acids (3.93 wt. %). Linoleic (20.89 wt. %), arachidonic (13.27 wt. %,) oleic (12.67 wt. %), nonadecanoic (10.23 wt. %) and stearic acid (10.08 wt. %) are fatty acids that prevail in the fatty acid profile of snail meat. The purpose of our study was not only to obtain our own data on the aforementioned parameters of snail meat in Slovenia, but also to check the culinary value of snail meat. For this purpose, we have produced two snail meat pâtés of acceptable sensory quality. The panel assessed sensory quality of pâté made of the meat (leg and liver) from snail Helix aspersa Müller significantly lower as a pâté made of meat from snail Helix aspersa Maxima, mainly due to the unpleasant aroma in which the soapy, sweet and spicy components predominated, as well as the lack of snail meat aroma.
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