Abstract:

By morphological and molecular identifications, alpine thin-shelled Cipangopaludina was speculated as a
variant or a novel species. Our determinations showed that the contents of crude protein and fat in a fresh sample were
(14.20 ± 0.26)% and (0.70 ± 0.03)%, respectively. A total of 17 types of common amino acids were found in thin-shelled
Cipangopaludina including 8 essential amino acids (EAA) and 2 semi-essential acids (SEAA). One gram of dried sample
contained 587.08 mg of amino acids, 280.08 mg of EAA (including SEAA), 27.37 mg of Val, 14.63 mg of Met and 26.02 mg
of Ile, which were significantly higher than the values reported for the dried samples of C. cathayessis and B. aeruginosa.
Phe and Lys were also higher than in C. cathayessis. The first limiting amino acid was Met + Cys, and the second limiting
amino acid was Val. Unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) accounted for 44.18% of the total fatty acids, of which the contents
of C18:1n-9, C18:2n-6,9, C18:3n-6,9,12 and C18:3n-3,6,9 were 6.15%, 13.11%, 9.42% and 5.54%, respectively. Moreover, thin-shelled
Cipangopaludina was rich in trace elements and minerals, especially Ca and Zn and their contents were up to (1762.667 ± 36.074)
and (5.017 ± 0.076) mg/100 g in a fresh sample, respectively. Thin-shelled Cipangopaludina, therefore, could be used as a
primary calcium and zinc supplement.

Key words: alpine thin-shelled Cipangopaludina, species identification, amino acid, fat acid, trace element and mineral