Proximate and Fatty Acid Compositions of Commercial Domestic and Imported Melania Snails Semisulscospira sp.

The proximate, fatty acid and dimethyl acetal (DMA) compositions of domestic and imported melania snails Semisulcospira sp. being sold commercially were studied. The protein content ranged from 8.09% (China) to 11.3% (North Korea). The lipid content ranged from 0.84 (China) to 2.36% (North Korea). Domestic melania snail had protein (10.5%) and lipid (1.02%) contents intermediate between those of the two imported melania snails. The prominent fatty acids were 16:0 and 18:0 saturated fatty acids, 16:1n-7, 20:1n-11, 18:1n-9, 18:1n-7 and 16:1n-9 monounsaturated fatty acids, and 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3 (eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA), 22:2 non-methylene-interrupted diene (NMID), 18:3n-3, 18:2n-6 and 22:5n-3 (docosapentaenoic acid, DPA) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). The percentage of n-3 PUFA was higher in domestic (19.6%) and North Korean (imported, 19.5%) snails than in that from China (imported, 16.8%), while the n-6 PUFA level was higher in snails from China (21.2%) and domestic snails (14.7%) than in that from North Korea (9.87%). The total DMA, i.e., 18:0 DMA, 16:0 DMA and 18:1 DMA was 7.30, 7.27, and 4.86% domestic snail and those from China and North Korea, respectively. These results suggest that melania snail is a source of n-3 PUFA, and DMA derived from plasmalogen.