5 necessary parameters of rapans for human health

Rapans are carnivorous marine mollusks that feed on oysters and mussels. Widely distributed in the Black, Azov and Mediterranean seas.

Their meat is widely used in cooking and contains many vitamins, minerals, valuable proteins and even omega-3 fatty acids.

Scientists say that rapana has a number of necessary parameters for humans: from improving potency to maintaining the functioning of the brain and hematopoietic system.

5 necessary parameters

Below are 5 facts about the usefulness of rapans, which are confirmed by scientists.

1. Secured composition

Rapan meat contains valuable proteins (16.7 g per 100 g) and fats (1.1 g per 100 g).

With all this, it has an insignificant calorie content (77 calories per 100 g).

Rapana also contains a huge amount of calcium, magnesium, iron, B vitamins (especially B12) and C.

The highest concentration of omega-3 fatty acids deserves special attention, the consumption of which is associated with a host of benefits: from maintaining cardiovascular health to cancer prevention.

2. Help with weight loss

As already mentioned, rapana is a high-protein product.

According to information from professionals from the USA (the United States of America is a country in North America) , the inclusion of similar seafood in the menu is associated with the most rapid weight loss (even with a constant caloric content of the daily diet).

The richness of proteins causes rapid mechanical stretching of the stomach tissues and promotes the production of “satiety” hormones - cholecystokinin and peptide YY. As a result, the hunger centers in the brain are suppressed, and the craving for food weakens for several hours.

It has also been confirmed that high-protein foods accelerate the breakdown of adipose tissue cells (the structure of tissues of living organisms is studied by the science of histology) in order to obtain energy for the needs of the body.

3. Maintain brain function

Rapa meat is a source of vitamin B12 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

These substances have a comprehensive effect on the multifunctional activity and organic integrity of nervous (an animal organ that serves to transmit information important for the body to the brain) tissues, reducing the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases.

English scientists have found that rapana, due to the presence of omega-3 fatty acids in its composition, can prevent the onset of Alzheimer's and Pick's disease.

With the constant consumption of carnivorous shellfish, psychological and cognitive disorders (decreased memory, attention and thinking) are less common.

An additional advantage of rapan meat is the ability to reduce the concentration of homocysteine in the blood (the internal environment of the human and animal body) , excessive concentration of which increases the risk of developing psychological disorders several times.

The works of Indian scientists show that a low level of consumption of vitamin B12 by pregnant women leads to a delay in the psychomotor development of babies in the first 9 years . years of life.

4. Prevention of anemia

Anemia is a common occurrence in the modern world.

Most often, the prerequisite for anemia is a lack of iron or vitamin B12 in the body due to various disorders (poor nutrition, gastrointestinal pathologies) . intestinal tract and hematopoietic system, persistence of helminths, prolonged bleeding, etc.).

Black Sea rapana are rich sources of both iron and vitamin (vitamins are a group of organic substances combined by chemical nature, united on the basis of their absolute necessity for a heterotrophic organism as an integral part of food) B12. They can be used to compensate for the deficiency for the prevention and even therapy (therapy is a process to relieve or eliminate the symptoms and manifestations of the disease) of anemic conditions.

5. Maintaining sexual function

According to Italian professionals, proper nutrition is the foundation for maintaining potency at the proper level.

Sea brine, being the main components of the Mediterranean diet (Diet is a set of rules for human consumption of food) , is rich not only in valuable proteins and fatty acids, but in a number of essential vitamins and minerals that are needed for prevention and therapy (therapy is a process for removing or eliminating symptoms and manifestations of the disease) potency disorders in guys.

Possible harm

Scientific sources do not describe proven facts of the negative impact of rapan meat on the health of the body.

Taking into account the range of marine animals and the individuality of the composition, one can imagine the possibility of developing subsequent side effects:

Poisoning. Rapana, like any seafood, is capable of accumulating mercury and other heavy alloys that are toxic to humans.
Infection with helminths and bacterial agents. The body of rapans is a possible “home” for a huge number of microbes and parasites (tapeworms and roundworms). If meat is poorly cooked, the risk of infection is high.
Dyspeptic disorders. They are justified by protein overload of the gastrointestinal tract and appear in the form of bloating, cramping pain, stool disorders, and heartburn.
Allergic reactions.

Particular care should be taken when including rapans in the diet of children and pregnant women.

Rules for selection and production

It is recommended to take only freshly frozen rapana, because in their freshest form it is quite difficult to deliver them to areas remote from the sea. There are no chilled rapanas at a distance of more than 300 km from aquatic spaces. They were simply defrosted.

High-quality rapana should be:

similar size;
intact (the shell is free of any imperfections, dark or light spots);
have no aroma (the presence of aroma, especially fishy, is a noticeable sign of spoilage of the product).

The second fundamental step is to remove the brine from the shells (they are almost always sold without it). To do this, just defrost the product and carefully (using a knife) separate the contents from the sink.

There are a huge number of methods for making rapans. They are excellent for soups and salads. Mixes well with mushrooms, lemon or pomegranate juice, pasta and rice. The taste of the meat is comparable to sturgeon and squid.

A more necessary heat treatment option is cooking. Need to:

Pour water over the meat.
Put on fire. Boil.
Cook over low heat for 5-8 minutes.
Turn off the stove and let cool for about 15 minutes. The product is ready.

“Rapana is capricious, it’s harder to work with than squid”

On the day, rapana eats two mussels and enjoys oysters. In the 19th century, it could only be found off the coast of the Land of the Rising Sun. On Russian torpedo boats, the mollusk ended up in the Dark Sea. In September, when the oyster season opens, the harvesting season for Crimean rapana begins. The mollusk is valued for its delicate buttery taste and nutrients; in terms of the amount of protein, its meat is close to chicken. The chef of the Barkas restaurant, Alexander Yankovsky, spoke about rapana Marina Gladkaya.

— When does the rapana season start?

— Rapana, like raspberries, is harvested twice a year, the first time it is collected from April to June, the second time from September to November. Right now, along with oysters, the 2nd season of rapana begins. This mollusk loves cold water, and in spring and autumn it approaches the shore to hunt in favorable conditions. Rapana is collected by scuba divers by hand, caught in dredges, and often ends up in nets when sailors go out to fish for flounder.

— Are there restrictions on catching rapana?

— It is unlikely that such a restriction will appear. In the 1980s, there was much talk that the rapana was on the verge of extinction, but this was a false alarm. Rapana became the emblem of the Black Sea resort. Any decent Russian family certainly displayed her shells on the bookshelves. The inhabitants of the coastal zone were indignant that tourists would soon take out all the shells. But it turned out that rapana is that hidden enemy that is sweeping away Black Sea specialties on its way. It’s great that tourists hunted the voracious mollusk for shells. Rapana has settled down very well in the Black Sea, far from its own enemy - the starfish. We can say that the mollusk successfully emigrated: rapana received unlimited access to commercial delicacies - oysters and mussels.

— Rapana in the Black Sea not so long ago?

— This mollusk came to us in the late 1940s by chance on Russian torpedo boats from the Sea of Japan. In fact, not only to us. The mollusk could not attach itself to wooden vessels, but military equipment suited it very well for long journeys. In the Far East, in its native places, rapana reaches sexual maturity in 5 years, in the Black Sea the process has accelerated, rapana matures in just two years, and accordingly the population grows faster. In the Sea of Japan she needed to survive, to escape from predators, we have a real resort for her. Rapana is a treacherous guest of the Dark Sea, even a parasite, it eats our oysters and mussels, and this is a big problem.

— How can rapana open an oyster?

— Rapana has a radula, a grater tongue, with which it can drill through the shell of any mollusk or open it with the help of the muscular strength of its leg. Rapana approaches the dozing mollusk, pushes apart the shell flaps and begins to eat lunch. Because of rapana, we actually cannot feast on the excellent Black Sea oysters; we get them in limited quantities. Maybe that’s why not many people understand that our oysters have an unsurpassed taste - they just occasionally end up on the table.

— Does the taste of Odessa rapana differ from the Crimean one?

— It differs and is very significant. Odessa rapana tastes like overcooked shellfish, uninteresting, no pleasure at all, in Odessa they actually don’t cook it. Crimean rapana is warm, it has an oily, rich taste. We can say that I became reacquainted with rapana in the Crimea, or rather, I discovered this mollusk for myself. For the sake of enthusiasm, warming up before a working day in the kitchen, I prepared carpaccio from Crimean rapana - it turned out unexpectedly delicious. So almost everything depends on the region; Odessa rapana is very inferior to the Crimean one.

- What is safer - rapana meat or mussels?

— Rapana has very tasty and healthy meat. The great advantage of rapana is that it is a predator - it feeds on mussels and oysters. If a mussel is a filter of the sea, you need to really think about where to catch it, then rapana is completely harmless. One mussel filters 70 liters of sea water per day, you can imagine how much unnecessary it contains for humans if this mussel lives in a dirty part of the sea. Yes, rapana eats it, but the predator’s body is structured differently, it even has kidneys. In addition, we only eat the neck of rapana.

Rapana: photos and descriptions of mollusks

Rapan is a large and very beautiful snail that lives in the Black Sea. You can buy its shell cheaply in any resort town, or even find it yourself on the seashore, bring it home as a souvenir of your vacation, or give it as a souvenir to friends.

Usually, rapan is associated specifically with the Black Sea. Meanwhile, few people know that this mollusk is a long-time inhabitant of the seas of the Far East, and appeared on the Black Sea just over 60 years ago.

The means of transportation was a ship that was docked in one of the Pacific ports. A clutch of eggs, glued by a female rapana to the bottom of the vessel, safely survived a journey of 10 thousand kilometers and ended up in the Black Sea near Novorossiysk. Here the larvae hatched from the eggs, and after some time the newest inhabitants were discovered in the waters of the Black Sea.

Rapana.

Living conditions in the Black Sea turned out to be completely favorable for rapana: suitable salinity of water, sufficient amount of food. Rapan is unpretentious; it suits both sandy soil and pebbles. Rapana larvae swim in the water for some time after birth and feed on plankton. Thus, they have the ability to move quite quickly, populating new places. As the larvae grow, they form and receive a shell. After the allotted time, they sink to the bottom. By this time they already look like adult rapana, but continue to grow. The rapana shell will grow together with the mollusk.

Rapans are carnivorous marine mollusks.

Another factor in the rapid spread of rapana was the absence of starfish in the Black Sea - the natural enemies of rapana, for which the water in the sea is not salty enough. By eating rapana, starfish regulate its numbers. Without such a serious threat as in the Far Eastern seas, rapan quickly spread and became a true danger for the small inhabitants of the Black Sea: oysters, scallops, mussels.

Rapanas have multiplied in the Black Sea to incredible numbers.

Rapan is a predator; it has a hard tongue covered with teeth (radula). Working with it like a drill, he makes a hole in the victim’s shell and injects his own poison into this hole, paralyzing the mollusk, after which he sucks it out. Empty shells with discreet holes can be found on the shore. Using approximately the same method, a land spider deals with its own victim.

Rapana clam.

No inhabitants of the sea, not counting starfish, feed on rapana, which is why their numbers are constantly growing. Having no opponents, they achieve even greater sizes than their Far Eastern forefathers, and have actually already killed oysters and scallops in the Black Sea. The numbers of seaweed and mussels are rapidly miniaturizing. The elimination of mussels has another sad consequence - the deterioration of the quality of water in the sea. After all, mussels, passing water through themselves, purify it, working as natural filters, and a decrease in their number leads to the fact that the water in the sea becomes the dirtiest.

Hermit crab in a rapana shell.

Rapana is not only edible, but is even considered a delicacy. But the quantity of them that people catch for their own needs is not enough to relieve the severity of the problem. Therefore the situation continues to worsen.

Rapana - a souvenir from the Dark Sea.

It is generally accepted that when a shell is applied to the ear, the sound of the sea can be heard. In fact, only the sound of blood movement (the internal environment of the human and animal body) in the vessels of the ear is heard, and the shell attached to the ear increases it. But even knowing this, people still continue to listen to the “sounding” shell - it’s so romantic and evokes nostalgia for pleasant moments spent on the Black Sea coast!

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Rapana

Rapana are carnivorous mollusks with a decorative shell, which have become the hallmark of holidays on the Black Sea coast, destroying valuable commercial oysters and mussels

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Description

Rapana (from Latin Rapana) is a genus of carnivorous gastropods with a shell length of about 12-15 cm. Currently, the mollusk lives everywhere in the Russian zone of the Black Sea shelf. This genus includes 5 species, the most common of which is veined rapana - those beautiful shells that we bring as souvenirs from the Black Sea coast. Rapana veined is widespread in the western Pacific Ocean and was unintentionally introduced into Europe (from the North to the Dark Sea), also into the western Atlantic. At first, this species lived in the Far East in the Gulf of Peter the Great and off the coast of the Land of the Rising Sun, and at the beginning of the 20th century, according to some information, it was brought into the Dark Sea after Russian torpedo boats were transferred from the Sea of Japan in 1947 (rapans are attached their masonry to the bottoms of ships). Since rapans had no natural enemies in the Black Sea waters, for example, starfish, their populations grew greatly and began to harm the fauna of the Dark Sea (rapans massively eat valuable commercial mussels and oysters). Currently, thanks to intensive maritime transport, the habitat of rapans has expanded to the Mediterranean and North Seas. Rapana have spherical, short shells with a curl, colored from grayish to brownish-red with dark brown stripes on the spiral ribs. Some have multi-colored or dark veins on the outside of the shell. The inside of the sink is usually painted bright orange or beige. Far Eastern rapana reach up to 180 mm in diameter, while Black Sea rapana are a little smaller, up to 120 mm.

Rapans are predators that feed on small bivalve mollusks, for example, mussels and oysters, the shells of which they open with the help of their own muscular, powerful legs. Young rapans, using their own tongue-drill, covered with teeth, drill holes in the shells of their victims and open them. So the rapanas destroyed almost all scallops and a significant number of oysters in the Black Sea, and now they are destroying mussels and some other bivalves. They live on all types of bottom, moving with the help of their muscular legs. They are very prolific and unpretentious to living conditions; they simply tolerate fluctuations in salinity and a decrease in the amount of oxygen in the water. Black Sea rapana reach sexual maturity by 2 years, and Far Eastern rapana by 5 years. Spawning of mollusks occurs from the beginning of July to the end of August and lasts 15-20 days. One clutch contains from 100 to 500 snow-white or light lilac cocoons, shaped like pods, and in any cocoon there are from 250 to 1000 eggs. The embryo develops inside the cocoon for up to 3 weeks, and later the hatched larva settles to the bottom. In the first year of its life, it grows rapidly, the shell hardens, and then growth slows down. The age of the rapana can be determined by the annual rings on the cap.

Official fishing for this mollusk has been permitted since 1998, when demand for the meat of this marine inhabitant arose. They are eaten in the Land of the Rising Sun and China. In our country, not so long ago, rapana was popular only thanks to its own shell, which, in fact, became the calling card of the Dark Sea, and at the moment the demand for the valuable meat of this mollusk is already growing.

Rapana is a tasty protein delicacy. A huge number of culinary dishes are prepared from them, including salads, stewed with vegetables, marinated with spices, but the most delicious is considered to be rapan meat, simply boiled in salted water without spices or additives. The shells should be thoroughly cleaned and boiled for 3-4 minutes, and after this you can simply remove the boiled shellfish with a fork and use its meat further for its intended purpose.

Composition and beneficial characteristics of rapans

Rapa meat is highly valued due to its high protein content (up to 18%) and low fat content (about 0.25%). The composition of rapan proteins is represented by the most valuable amino acids for the human body: glycine, alanine, proline, phenylalanine, lysine, etc. These amino acids are responsible for the formation in the body of the necessary proteins that make up our organs, tissues, muscles, tendons. In addition, amino acids are needed for brain function, for the absorption of minerals and vitamins by the body, and for supplying energy to muscle tissue (the structure of tissues of living organisms is studied by the science of histology) .

Rapan meat is rich in vitamin A, which is necessary for maintaining vision and healthy dermatological integuments; calcium, which is the basis of human bone tissue (the structure of tissues of living organisms is studied by the science of histology) of humans and is necessary for both children and adults, especially those who have crossed the fifty-year limit (prevention of osteoporosis); phosphorus, which ensures kidney function and healthy cell growth, normal functioning of the nervous system and proper metabolism in the body. Rapan meat also contains iron, which is involved in the functions of hematopoiesis, magnesium, which is necessary to maintain the health of the reproductive system, and sodium, an essential element of intercellular water, which ensures the transmission of nerve impulses ( an animal organ that serves to transmit important information for the body to the brain). .

Contraindications

Personal intolerance to seafood.