*Article*

## **Land Snails as a Valuable Source of Fatty Acids: A Multivariate Statistical Approach**

**Francesco Giuseppe Galluzzo 1, Gaetano Cammilleri 1,2,\*, Alessandro Ulrici 2, Rosalba Calvini 2, Andrea Pulvirenti 2, Giovanni Lo Cascio 1, Andrea Macaluso 1,2, Antonio Vella 1, Nicola Cicero 3, Antonella Amato 4 and Vincenzo Ferrantelli 1,2**


Received: 4 November 2019; Accepted: 5 December 2019; Published: 12 December 2019

**Abstract:** The fatty acid (FA) profile of wild *Theba pisana*, *Cornu aspersum,* and *Eobania vermiculata* land snail samples, collected in Sicily (Southern Italy), before and after heat treatment at +100 ◦C were examined by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The results show a higher content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in all of the examined raw snails samples, representing up to 48.10% of the total fatty acids contents, followed by monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). The thermal processing of the snail samples examined determined an overall reduction of PUFA levels (8.13%, 7.75%, and 4.62% for *T. pisana*, *C. aspersum* and *E. vermiculata* samples, respectively) and a species-specific variation of saturated fatty acid (SFA) contents. Oleic acid remained the most abundant FA of all of the snails species examined, accounting for up to 29.95% of the total FA content. A relevant decrease of Ñ3/Ñ6 ratio was found only for *T. pisana* samples. The principal component analysis (PCA) showed a separation of the snail samples in terms of species and heat treatment. The results of this work sugges<sup>t</sup> land snails as a valuable source of MUFA and PUFA contents and boiling as appropriate treatment, according to the maintenance of healthy properties.

**Keywords:** fatty acids; land snails; GC-FID; heat processing; principal component analysis
