Journal of Molluscan Research, (JMR) Volume 9, 2022
PREAMBLE
Nutrition according to Medicine Libretexts (2019) is the science that interprets the nutrients and other substances in food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism. It includes ingestion, absorption, assimilation, biosynthesis, catabolism and excretion. Nutrition also refers to the process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth. Nutrition is the study of nutrients in food, how the body uses them and the relationship between diet, health and disease.
Centre for Food Safety, Hong Kong (2017) defined a nutrient as a substance obtained from food and used in the body to promote growth, maintenance, and repair of body tissues, or simply as “a substance that provides nourishment”. It is essential for the maintenance of life and for growth.
Snail nutrition is therefore the science that interprets the nutrients and other substances in food taken by snails (ingestion), digestion of the food nutrients, absorption of the nutrients and utilization of the nutrients for maintenance, growth, reproduction and health of the snails. This paper addresses each key word in the definition above.
