Investigating the nutritional value of Babylonia spirata sea snail meat from Kanarak wharf, southeast of Iran

The molluscs of Persian Gulf and Oman Sea have high nutritional value with high levels of protein, amino acids and fatty acids. Little researches have been done on determining the nutritional value of the identified species. This study was carried out with the aim of evaluating the nutritional value of the sea snail Babylonia spirata in Kanarak Wharf.Thirty sea snails (with an average length of 22±1.12 mm and an average weight of 7.8±0.14 g) from the mud and sand beds of Kanarak wharf (Sistan and Baluchistan province) were kept in cold boxes with powdered ice and transferred to the laboratory. Body chemistry, fatty acids and amino acids compositions were used. The results showed that the amount of protein, lipid, ash, moisture, and dry matter was 18.75, 6.49, 3.30, 70.63 and 29.37% respectively. Total essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids were equal to 15.95 g of amino acids/mg.The nutritional value of snail amino acid content is 60.50% compared to egg. The highest amount of amino acid in snail tissue was isoleucine (4.23 mg/g tissue), valine (3.06 mg/g tissue), lysine (1.10 mg/g tissue) and phenylalanine (1.09 mg/g tissue), respectively. In the analysis of the content of fatty acid groups, it was found that the highest amount among saturated fatty acids was palmitic acid (13.40±0.04%), stearic acid (6.29±0.23%), and heptadecanoic acid (6.17±0.18%) respectively.Among monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), eicosenoic acid (EPA, 20.80±0.33%) and palmitoleic acid (PA, 12.16±0.36%) showed the highest amount, respectively. While the highest amount of long-chain unsaturated fatty acids was respectively related to linoleic acid (LA, 20.27±0.24%), linolenic acid (LNA, 10.23±0.25%) and arachidonic acid (ARA, 2.08±31%). Also, the amount of eicosasterenoic acid (ETA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) was reported as 1.10±0.01 and 1.07±0.23%, respectively.The results of this research showed that the presence of amino acids (isoleucine) and fatty acids (linoleic acid) content, gives more economic value to sea snail B. spirata