Effets du régime alimentaire sur la croissance et la valeur nutritive de la viande d’escargots géants africains Archatina marginata

摘要

Between February and June 2017, this study was carried out to evaluate the effect of feeding regime on growth performances and nutritive value of West African giant snails Archatina marginata’s meat. A total of 144 young snails with average body weight 10±1g were fed for eighteen weeks on 3 feeding regimes. The feeding regimes were as follow: R0: papaw fruits; R1: papaw fruits + seashell and R2: compounded feed balance in protein, calcium and energy. The compounded feed (R2) induced the best (P0.05 survival rate, weight gain, meat yield and meat quality. After 18 weeks of breeding, the compounded feed induced 38.1 g of live body weight, compared to 22.9 g for the control ration and 28.6g for the pawpaw supplemented with the seashell. The snails in control group recorded 32.6% meat yield compared to 35.9% for the ration R1 and 41.3% for R2. The highest shell yield (29.4%) was recorded with the ration R1. The protein content of meat varied significantly from feeding regime R0 (33.7%), R1 (39.7%) to R2 (43.7%). The compounded feed produced the cheapest gram bodyweight as compared with papaw alone and papaw supplemented with seashell (7.3 for 18.7 and 21.0 FCFA for R0 and R1). We can conclude that, feeding African giant snails (Archatina marginata) with a compound feed balance in protein, calcium and energy is more economic and efficient than fruits alone.