Tutut Bergizi Tinggi, Berprotein dan Sehat!

Hmm… ternyata, setelah surfing sana surfing sini, banyak didapat hasil kalau keong sawah ini mengandung zat gizi makronutrien, berupa protein dalam kadar yang cukup tinggi pada tubuhnya. Berat daging satu ekor keong sawah dewasa dapat mencapai 4-5 gram. Selain makronutrien, keong sawah ini juga mengandung mikronutrien yang berupa mineral, terutama kalsium yang sangat dibutuhkan oleh manusia.

Terus bagaimana dengan kolesterol? Biasanya ini pertanyaan paling umum untuk menimbang sebuah makanan, apakah bisa dikonsumsi secara bebas, maksudnya gak pake mikir-mikir bagi yang sedang diet.

Tenang!Hasil penelitian untuk kandungan nutrisi keong sawah ini menyatakan bahwa keong sawah kaya akan protein dan rendah lemak. Diperkirakan keong mengandung 15% protein, 2.4% lemak dan sekitar 80% air. Ini juga yang membuat keong sawah menjadi makanan alternatif kesehatan. Selain itu keong juga kaya kandungan essential fatty acids seperti linoleic acids dan linolenic acids. Sebuah studi menyebutkan bahwa 75% lemak di tubuh keong adalah unsaturated fatty acids. Artinya lemak yang baik dan dibutuhkan tubuh.

Herewith, I also posted in English version taken from http://www.applesnail.net/

The nutritional value of apple snails is relatively high. More precisely, the protein content of apple snail can make them a good protein source for humans.

For example the protein value of Pomacea haustrum is reported to be 72.9% for humans. In practise this means that out of 100 gram snail protein, 72.9 gram human body proteins can be made.

To understand this (skip this if you have a good knowledge about proteins), one has to know that proteins are made of chains of amino acids, and that there are 20 different amino possible acids in both snail as well human proteins. The ratio of each amino acid to the whole mass of proteins in the body differs from snails and humans. So if one eats apple snail meat, the human body cannot use all amino acids, simply because some amino acids are in overload and others are less available in comparison with the amino acid content of human proteins. The unused amino acids cannot be stored in the body, and will be degraded and used an energy source.

An example (not realistic) to illustrate this: if apple snail proteins are made of 10% amino acid A and 90% amino acid B and human proteins consist of 50% A and 50%B, then a human can only make 20gr proteins from 100gr snail proteins. This because 100gr snail protein in this example contains 10gr A and 90gr B, and a human will only use an equal amount of A and B (50%A, 50%B), so for 10gr A, a human will use 10gr B, resulting in 20gr protein.