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In this study, we characterized and quantified vitamin B compounds in popular edible snails Babylonia japonica and Turdo Batillus cornutus using a microbiological assay based on Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis ATCC 7830. The meat and viscera of B. japonica contained 27.2 ± 9.1 and 92.8 ± 25.8 μg of vitamin B per 100 g, respectively. However, the meat and viscera of T. cornutus contained extremely low amounts of vitamin B (3.0 ± 1.5 and 15.1 ± 8.3 μg of vitamin B per 100 g, respectively). We identified the vitamin B compounds from the edible portions (meat and viscera) of B. japonica and T. cornutus using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/tandem mass spectrometry. We found that B. japonica contained substantial amounts of true vitamin B, while pseudovitamin B was the predominant corrinoid in T. cornutus. These results indicate that the meat and viscera of B. japonica are excellent sources of vitamin B for humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]