Edible bird’s nest (EBN) swiftlet existed naturally 48,000 years ago in caves as their natural dwellings. Nowadays, edible bird’s nest has become a very important industry due to its high nutritional, medicinal and economic value. Additionally, edible bird’s nest has a long quality guarantee period. Obviously, the nutritional components and medicinal functions vary depending on geographical origins.
Edible Bird’s Nest (EBN) is a secretion created by swiftlets. Erodramus (echolocating swiftlets) and Collocalia (non-echolocating swiftlets) are among the two genera of swiftlets known to produce valuable EBN. Swiftlets are insectivorous birds, predominantly inhabited in South East Asia (SEA) and the southern part of China (Aswir and Wan, 2010). The world’s largest producer of EBN is Indonesia, which currently has the largest colony of swiftlets, followed by Malaysia. The saliva secreted from the pair of sublingual glands of swiftlets is the principal material used in the construction of the EBN. The sublingual glands of swiftlets increase in weight (2.5–160 mg) and reach their maximum secretory activity during nesting and breeding season. The male birds make nests by using their secretion to bind with some feathers and vegetation. The resulting material is shaped into nests with simultaneous attachment to the walls of the caves when habituated in the cave environment. In man-made premises, they are attached to the wooden linter. The nests are graded based on the dry mass, size, colour, impurity and number of feathers via physical appearance.
EBN has been a delicacy food in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) since the Tang Dynasty (618–907 A.D.). EBN is cooked using a double boiling method with rock sugar to make Chinese cuisine, namely the bird’s nest soup. It was reported that Hong Kong is the largest importer of EBN globally, followed by the Chinese community from North America. EBN may be regarded as the most expensive animal by-product in the world, costing USD 2,000–10,000 per kilogram for its high nutritional and medicinal therapeutic values. The key component of EBN is glycoprotein, calcium, sodium, potassium and carbohydrate. Owing to its esteem as a prized bioproduct in the East of the globe, EBN is also named the “Caviar of the East”. EBN has also been used as a health tonic in TCM due to its being a multipurpose general health rejuvenation tonic and social symbolic status delicacy during the banquet. TCM claimed that EBN can treat malnutrition, improve metabolism rate, boost the immune system and rejuvenate the skin complexion. Moreover, in modern research, EBN also exhibits some interesting therapeutic effects, such as anticancer, anti-ageing, phlegm-dissolving, cough-suppressing, anti-tuberculosis, voice-improving, curing general debility and asthenia, and hastening recovery from illness and surgery.
Nutrient Content in Edible Bird’s Nest
The major nutrient components of edible bird’s nest are carbohydrates and glycoproteins as reported by Kathan and Weeks, and essential trace elements such as calcium, sodium, magnesium, zinc, manganese and iron. Edible bird nest contains mainly carbohydrates, amino acids and mineral salts. The major ingredients of edible bird nest are glycoproteins. Sialic acid (9%) is the major carbohydrate found in edible bird nest. The other major carbohydrates include 7.2% galactosamine, 5.3% glucosamine, 16.9% galactose and 0.7% fucose. Amino acids and mineral salts are also important components in edible bird nest. Three non-essential amino acids (aspartic acid, glutamic acid, proline) and two essential amino acids (threonine and valine) were reported by Kathan and Weeks (1969). Edible bird nest is rich in mineral salts. It contains high content of sodium and calcium. It is because the source of edible bird’s nests is derived from limestone caves.
Edible bird nest is not only medicine to make people healthy but also becomes a pleasant food. Traditionally, it is double-boiled with rock sugar to make a delicacy known as “bird’s nest soup”. Despite the long history of using edible bird nest as cooking material for food and medicinal purposes, there is a limited number of scientific research relating to its detailed bioactive components and their functional properties
Bird nest is best known as the most precious natural nourishment and healthy product. Bird nest was used in ancient China as a type of restorative and remedial food. According to the clinical research, bird nest has a sweet and calm character. Bird nest contributes various medical benefits such as lung, stomach and kidney neural systems.
Based on a scientific study on bird nest from Chinese University of Hong Kong, it was concluded that the water-soluble protein of bird nest contains Mitogenic Stimulation Factor and Epidemic Growth Factor which are able to:
- Enhance the growth of cells
- Reinforce the immune system
- Restore energy and stamina
- Boost heart functions
- Supply, and distribute heat energy throughout the body
Bird nest is safe to eat for anyone like babies, kids, teenagers, adult male or female, young and old, and for pregnant women too.
Also, bird nest is strongly recommended for those convalescing. The nutrients in the nests can speed up the recovery process and make healing faster. Since bird nest is a rich source of food and nutrition, it is important to carefully examine all the nutrients that are found in bird nest.
Source
Bird’s Nest are from all over the regions of South East Asia. After cleaning and removing the nest of impurities, only 20% of bird’s nests are then subjected to quality control before selling.
Quality
Bird’s Nest contains natural nutrients, water-soluble proteins, carbohydrates, 19 other minerals, vitamins and amino acids. Bird’s Nest are cleaned by skilled workers at least 95% and above cleanliness.
Original
We use the manually handpicked method to clean the bird’s nest, without adding preservatives, bleaching, coagulants or artificial colors. The reason is to prevent the loss of nutrients caused by repeated cleaning and to ensure the bird’s nest original shape is preserved.
Taste
You can experience the unique active protein aroma and silky texture of bird’s nest.
Advancement of Edible Bird’s Nest
Many years after the discovery of health benefits from eating edible bird’s nest, scientists now begin to look at how to maximize the nutrients obtained from eating bird’s nest. Among the nutrients that scientists set their eyes on is the active nutrient called “Sialic Acid
The main reason behind this is that Sialic Acid plays a key role in brain development and acts as a good natural supplement for pregnant mothers.
The Breakthrough
After years of research, scientists discovered that the traditional cooking method of boiling bird’s nest into soup was not the most effective way to prepare it as it lead to a few major problems such as: –
- The denaturing of protein due to high heat, renders it useless
- Reducing the overall quality of bird’s nest
- Not every part of the bird’s nest was used in the preparation of the soup which led to major wastage
Furthermore, the nutrient molecules of a natural bird’s nest are too big for the human body to absorb which leads to most of them being flushed out while only 10% of the nutrients are absorbed by our intestine.
A group of scientists led by Chan Ying Seong spent 4 years developing the best alternative to create the perfect bird’s nest dish to not only preserve all the nutrients that an edible bird’s nest can offer but also improve it so our body can fully absorb its nutrients. And the solution is Nano-technology. Breaking the nutrient into the nano-sized particle, effectively solves the problem of low absorbability due to the molecular size of the nutrient thus spiking the absorption rate to a drastic 100%.
