Chemical Composition, Nutritional Value, Safety, and Acceptability of Egyptian Red Sea Coast Fresh and Dried Spider Conch (Lambis Lambis) Meats

The present study investigated the chemical composition, nutritional value, safety, and acceptability of fresh and dried spider conch (L. lambis) meats collected from the Red Sea Coast, Egypt. The results indicated that both fresh and dried conch samples are considered good protein sources with up to 55% on dry wt. basis. The protein contained both essential and non-essential amino acids especially glutamic acid, aspartic acid, arginine, leucine, and lysine, and had an acceptable calculated protein efficiency ratio (C-PER) (1.7 – 2.05) and computed biological value (C-BV) (77.24 – 77.42). The concentrations of Na (20898.33 and 14234 mg/kg), K (10098.33 and 6530.67 mg/kg), Ca (6000 and 6200 mg/kg) and P (4005 and 3600 mg/kg), in both types of fresh and dry conch meat, covered their daily level intakes of man. In contrast, both types of meat are considered free from Co (<0.001mg /kg) and the dry samples had Pb (0.94 mg /kg) which is less than its maximum permissible limits (2 mg /kg; FAO/ WHO, 1989). Oil of fresh and dried conch meats (3.85% and 3.77% on dry wt. basis, respectively), were rich in unsaturated fatty acids (USFAs) particularly omega-3 ones, and with a ω⁶: ω³ ratio of 2.08:1 and 1.46:1, respectively. Both types of conch meats were nearly free from Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio spp < /em>, with a total aerobic bacteria count (APC) less than 10⁶ and 10⁵, respectively, the ICMSF (2002) upper acceptable limits for fish and dry fish in addition to low molds and yeasts count. The sensory panelists rated the overall acceptability of the dried conch meat to be fair to good.