Comparative Evaluation of Lettuce Wastes, Pawpaw Leaves, Whole Lettuce and Cabbage Wastes as a Sole Feed Ingredient for Growing Archachatina marginata Snails

There is inadequate information on quality feedstuffs for large-scale year-round production of snails in Nigeria. This study evaluated the performance, carcass analysis and sensory properties of cooked meat of Archachatina marginata snails fed on plant wastes as sole feed ingredient. A feeding trial of 6-month duration involving one hundred and twenty growing snails (132.91 ± 2.13 g) in a randomly distributed four dietary treatments of pawpaw leaves (PL), whole lettuce, lettuce wastes (LW) and cabbage wastes (CW) was conducted. Treatment effect on shell length and width was significant (P 0.05). The highest dressing percentage of 43.2% was obtained for snails on LW, while the lowest value of 35.19% was recorded for snails on PL. The treatments had no appreciable effect on the nutrient composition and sensory quality of the snail meat. The highest dry matter digestibility of 83.50% was recorded in snails on CW which was statistically similar to those on LW (83.33%), while the least value of 78.33% was recorded in snails on PL. The weight gain and feed per unit gain followed the same pattern as the dry matter digestibility. It is concluded that lettuce waste as well as cabbage waste can be utilized as sole feed for growing snails, thereby increasing the feed-base for snail production in the tropics.