Nutritional Potential of Freshwater Snails (Pila ampullacea) from Lake Rawapening for Sustainable Food Security

¹ Research Center for Limnology and Water Resources, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Soekarno’s Science and Technology Area Jalan Raya Jakarta-Bogor, Km 46 Cibinong, Bogor – West Java, Indonesia – 16911
² Chemistry Education Study Program, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia
³ Agribusiness Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Wahid Hasyim, Indonesia,

^* Corresponding author: rosalinapermatasari@unesa.ac.id

Abstract

Sustainable food security is a major challenge in tropical regions facing the pressures of population growth and climate change. Freshwater snails (Pila ampullacea), abundant in Lake Rawapening, Central Java, Indonesia, have the potential to become a local food source due to their nutritional content essential for body metabolism. This article is a literature review with a narrative approach. This approach was chosen because it allows the synthesis of diverse literature related to freshwater snails, including nutritional content, ecology, food, and processed products. Literature was collected from various sources such as the Scopus database, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. The keywords used in the literature search were P. ampullacea and nutrition, nutrition, food, and ecological risks. The inclusion criteria were studies on nutritional composition, population distribution, food potential, ecological impacts, and risks of consumption or cultivation. Irrelevant articles were excluded. Articles used for this study were only those published between 2015 and 2025. The collected data were analyzed descriptively. From this study, it was found that freshwater snails contain 57.76% protein, 14.62% fat, and 15.3% ash. The Ca content in freshwater snail meat reaches 812 mg 100 g^-1, with high Fe and Zn contents, namely 102 mg 100 g^-1 (Fe) and 12 mg 100 g^-1 (Zn). Freshwater snail mucus contains vitamin C, which functions as an antioxidant. The nutritional profile of freshwater snails makes them potentially suitable for development as functional foods to support sustainable food security. Freshwater snails are among the biota that are vulnerable to heavy metal pollution, so appropriate strategies are needed to maintain the health of their habitat to ensure the safety of this species.