SIGNIFICANCE AND USEFULNESS OF SNAILS

Abstract

Snails are invertebrate, soft-bodied animals that belong to the gastropod class, or Gastropoda. They live all over the globe and can adapt to any environment and do not require much food. The beneficial properties of snails have been known since ancient times. In ancient Egypt and Babylon, the snail was considered a symbol of eternity and fertility, and the Colombians used its mucus to rejuvenate the skin. In the Middle Ages, snail meat was recommended to be consumed during religious fasts as a substitute for beef and fish. Nowadays, a variety of tasty and easily digestible dishes are made from snail meat, and snail mucus is very popular for cosmetic purposes. There are more than 110,000 species of snails in the world, but only some of them have become useful to humans not only as food, but also as an amazing medicinal and rejuvenating agent. Some species of snails are omnivorous, some are zoophagous, but most of them are phytophagous, that is, they feed exclusively on plant food. Edible snails are extremely useful, have a valuable set of nutrients. They completely lack cholesterol. The main component of snail meat is valuable high-quality and easily digestible proteins. The most common edible snails are: Helix pomatia – better known as the grape snail, its meat is considered tastier than that of other species. Helix aspersa – known as the garden helix, and its subspecies Helix aspersa maxima – the so-called large gray and Helix aspersa muller – small gray. Achatina and grape snails are used in cosmetology. Not only meat is useful, but also snail caviar is an expensive, exclusive and low-calorie product. It contains many more vitamins and trace elements than any other caviar, and its high iodine content makes it extremely useful. The process of collecting caviar is very troublesome and expensive, which affects its high cost. But, in addition to meat and caviar, snail mucus also has useful properties. It consists of two components: water and mucin, a complex protein that helps restore the shell. Mucin as a biologically active substance activates the function of fibroblasts involved in the formation of the extracellular structure of the tissue, as well as proteins – collagen and elastin.