Abstract

Snail slime has been perceived to make snail flesh unattractive and is usually removed from the snail meat to be discarded as waste during home processing. This study evaluated the slime of Achatina marginata snail for its proximate and mineral compositions and antibacterial properties following established techniques. The standard procedures of AOAC (1990) were followed to analyze the proximate composition and mineral analysis while agar well diffusion was done to determine the snail slime’s antibacterial properties against Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella typhi.The analysis's findings showed that the slime's proximate composition (%) was moisture 88.15 ± 0.07 %, ash 1.385 ± 0.04%, crude fat 0.12 ± 0.01%, crude protein 1.305 ± 0.02% and carbohydrate contents 6.29 ± 0.08%. According to the results of the mineral analysis, the sodium content of the slime was highest (78.3 mg/100 g) followed by calcium (66.25 mg/100 g) and then phosphorus (32.61 mg/100 g) and potassium (27.18 mg/100g). Magnesium was moderately present in the slime (13.72mg/100g) while iron and zinc were present at low amounts (1.83 mg/100 g and 1.07 mg/100 g respectively).The result of the antibacterial activity revealed that the slime exhibited a higher inhibitory power against Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella typhi with zones of inhibition of 24.83 mm and 19.00 mm respectively when compared to levofloxacin with zones of inhibition of 23.17 mm and 16.33 mm against Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella typhi respectively. This study therefore encourages the use of slime from Archachatina marginata for nutrition and medicinal preparations.