Scientists have found a way to make a useful product from grape snails

They will be frozen before cooking

The North Caucasus Federal Scientific Agrarian Center (Stavropol Krai) recently received a patent for the preparation of a biologically active product from grape snails. After processing, the healthy meat of these gastropods will be in the form of powder, so even those who usually disdain to try shellfish will be able to improve their health with its help.

Photo: ru.wikipedia.org

The interest in snail meat is due not only to the fact that for many today it is a delicacy, but also to the fact that it is healthy: it contains not only a lot of protein and essential amino acids. But since the attitude to such a food product is, to put it mildly, ambiguous, scientists are looking for an opportunity to process it into a food additive.

In the description of the patent, Stavropol experts indicate that analogues of similar inventions already exist. Bioactive products with similar properties are made not only from snails, but also, for example, from crushed bee drone larvae or from caviar juice (a liquid containing fish eggs). But the resulting drugs are usually very expensive, because… they are not very convenient to cook.

They have also learned to process snails: they are fed with flour and watered for five days, then they are only given water for five days, then they are removed from the shell and crushed, after which they are dried in a special installation. The authors note that this method of preparation is quite expensive, primarily due to the use of expensive installations.

Stavropol scientists decided to take a different route. They starve the snails for at least two days, and regularly wash them with hot water. Then they are frozen, after which the snail’s body is separated from the shell and dried at a temperature of no more than 100 degrees. When the body reaches a stable mass, it is crushed. The result is a powder containing complete protein in combination with minerals and vitamins.