Abstract
Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is a traditional Chinese delicacy made of the saliva of swiftlets found in Southeast Asia. With increasing demands for EBN, quality control of EBN products is important for safe consumption. The processing steps are particularly important for efficient extraction of bioactive compounds. Geographical location, collection place, and harvesting season contribute to differences in nutritional contents in EBN. Concerns regarding presence of adulterant, chemical, and microbial contaminants in EBN as well as authentication and chemical composition measuring methods are discussed in this review. Recent discoveries of beneficial health functions of EBN in antimicrobial and antiviral actions, immunomodulation, cancer prevention and treatment, tissue regeneration, cardiometabolic maintenance, antioxidant action and neuroprotection are also reviewed. Our review provides an update on the recent research on EBN.
Highlights
Consumption of edible bird’s nest could be traced back to the 7th century from China, in which Edible bird’s nest (EBN) was classified as a high-grade health food, tonic, medicine, and a symbol of wealth (Lau and Melville, 1994)
The author suggested that rapid healing effect induced by EBN was mediated through enhanced production of hyaluronan and the downregulation of MMP-1 and upregulation of procollagen type I expression in ultraviolet B (UVB)-irradiated normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs) cells
This review compiled recent investigations of EBN and provided insight into various topics related to EBN products
Summary
Consumption of edible bird’s nest could be traced back to the 7th century from China, in which EBN was classified as a high-grade health food, tonic, medicine, and a symbol of wealth (Lau and Melville, 1994). EBN-producing swiftlets are mainly found in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, The Philippines, Cambodia, and the southern region of China. The quality, composition, and nutritional values in EBN could be different based on the swiftlet species, geographical as well as environmental conditions (Dai et al, 2020). Indonesia is the largest bird’s nest producer in Southeast Asia, exporting around 2,000 tons/year, followed by Malaysia at 600 tons/year, and Thailand at 400 tons/ year (Panyaarvudh, 2018). From January to June 2021, China imported approximately 128.3 tons, 42.3 tons, and 0.1 tons from Indonesia, Malaysia, and
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