Abstract:
The meat of the giant African snail (Achatina achatina) was preserved utilising solar drying, tray drying,
and traditional hot air/smoking method. The study compared the effectiveness of the three drying
methods on the basis of the nutritional, microbiological and sensory attributes of the dried snail
samples. In addition, the cost and operational requirements of the three dryers were evaluated. Results
obtained showed that, protein (89.92±0.49%), fat (4.76±0.13%), ash (3.84±0.30%), and energy
(1729.92±8.09 kJ/100g) were highest in the dried sample from the traditional hot air/smoke dryer, but
was lowest in total carbohydrate (1.48±0.06%), all on dry matter basis. In addition, the sample dried
using the traditional hot air/smoke dryer, comparatively had least microbial numbers after drying and
throughout the storage period of 30 weeks with good sensory attributes making it the most preferred
method for drying snail meat
