Etudes de quelques paramètres de croissance et de valeur nutritive des variétés d'escargot Archachatina marginata (Swainson) élevées en milieu naturel

Studies of some Parameters of Growth and Nutritive Values of Snail Varieties Archachatina marginata (Swainson) Bred in Natural Environment. Approximately two months old juvenile snails of from black and white body varieties Archachatina marginata obtained from indoor rearing were introduced in Banco forest of Nangui Abogoua University in order to study some growth and nutritive values parameters after 24 months. The result obtained showed that 12% of black body snails exhibited average shell length of 12.5 cm with 218.19 and 44.57 average live weight respectively. Concerning white body snails, only 3% exhibited average shell length of 12.5 cm with 231.1 and 50.96 g of average live and body weight respectively. Numbers of these white body snails were small with percentage of 22%, and average live and body weight of 128.5 and 30.2 g, respectively. This result suggests that snail A. marginata under breeding in this natural medium showed good performance of growth comparable to those from the original natural medium. Moreover, the study of nutritive value parameters revealed that body of both varieties of A. marginata had the similar ash content of 9.8% with important calcium contents of 17.38±0.37 and 20.34±2.94% for black and white body varieties, respectively. The shell ash content of both snail varieties showed identical value of 95% with calcium contents of 17.38±0.37 and 20.34±2.94% for black and white body varieties, respectively. Their body protein content was estimated at approximately 62%