Abstract
Wild animals have been used as food since ancient times and, currently, the consumption of unconventional animals is increasing worldwide. The process of cooking meat using traditional recipes includes a variety of ingredients, which can influence the total metal intake from the diet. In this study, the concentrations of eight essential (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Se, Ni, Mo, and Co) and six non-essential (Pb, Cd, Hg, Al, As, and Cr) trace elements were determined in home-processed food obtained from snails and from three common species of game animals (woodcock, pheasant, and hare), seasoned with anchovies, mushrooms, and different vegetables using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In general, Fe was the most abundant trace element, ranging from 18 ± 8 µg/g in pheasant to 99 ± 76 µg/g in snail, and Co was the least abundant, ranging from 0.007 ± 0.003 µg/g in hare to 0.093 ± 0.048 µg/g in snail. Regarding the non-essential trace elements, Pb concentrations showed wide variations, reaching a concentration of 17.30 µg/g in hare, while Cd concentrations were higher in snail, ranging from 0.18 to 0.46 µg/g. These alternative food sources can offer an important contribution to the human nutritional requirements of essential trace elements, in particular of Fe. The high concentrations of Pb and Cd present in some samples should be considered as potentially dangerous for the consumers.
Highlights
Human diets include a myriad of animal sources, which vary widely in different countries
The concentrations in raw snail samples were in the range of those determined by other authors in Helix pomatia [13] and in Cantareus aspersus [14], but higher than those reported in the giant African snail Achatina achatina [15]
It is well known that land snails are able to accumulate high concentrations of trace elements, Cu, due to the presence of a specific Cu-metallothionein isoform, which can act as a metal donor for the synthesis of hemocyanin [16]
Summary
Human diets include a myriad of animal sources, which vary widely in different countries. Wild animals have been used as food since ancient times and, currently, the consumption of unconventional animals from different taxa is increasing worldwide. Insects [1], mollusks [2] and vertebrates, ranging from fish to mammals [3], in particular game animals [4], are those most commonly used. The consumption of unconventional and exotic animals evokes strong emotions and controversy, reflecting the cultural background of the different societies [5]. These elements are involved in cell metabolism and regulation, performing different biochemical functions which can be summarized as: (a) participating in redox reactions (Fe, Cu, Mn, Mo, and Co); (b) acting as enzyme cofactors (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Co, and Mo); (c) acting directly or indirectly as antioxidants
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