A research team at a Thai university have found that Thai snail slime is the best in the world when it comes to producing cosmetics, a report said today.

According to the research, Thai snails have anti-fungal properties necessitated by the tropical climate that makes their slime superior to that of colder-climate snails for human skin moisturising.

Led by Somsak Panha of Chulalongkorn University's Department of Biology, the team of scientists compared the chemical composition of the slime of different snail species, according to the Bangkok Post.

Snail slime has gained widespread application in the cosmetics industry as a skin moisturiser and whitener. Companies in South Korea and Japan breed snails to cultivate the slime trails.

- dpa