Molluscophagy in North East India: Assessment of Nutritive Value of Four Edible Freshwater Molluscs

ABSTRACT

Since time immemorial, molluscs have been a popular source of food in North East India. Given the historical importance of snail consumption in the region, the current investigation was carried out to assess the nutritional properties of mollusc meat/tissue and shell. Three species of freshwater snails (Cipangopaludina sp. Brotia costula, Filopaludina bengalensis) and the bivalve Lamellidens sp. were identified from five states of North East India. Proximate and elemental analyses of mollusc meat revealed high amounts of nutrients (more crude protein (range 26.75–22.83%) and low fat (3.82–2.70%)) and minerals (especially calcium). Additionally, high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids were observed (maximum 1.95% in B. costula).

KEYWORDS:

• Edible mollusc species
• nutritional composition
• proximate analysis
• PUFA

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by funding from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India under grant number [BT/PR25355/NER/95/1157/2017].