Bird Nest Facts and Knowledge

What is the benefit of Bird's Nest?
Recent scientific research has an edible bird’s nest (EBN) has been found that amino acids rich in antioxidants and contain rich. Two key factors for the new cells and fight free radicals in our body.

Antioxidants
Bird’s Nest is rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants are substances or nutrients that can prevent or delay the oxidation of our bodies. health problems, including heart disease, degeneration, diabetes, cancer, etc. supplied by oxidative damage. Antioxidants are resistant, so the risk of infections and cancer.

Collagen and Amino acids
Bird’s Nest is also rich in Collagen and Amino acids such as leucine, lysine, glycine, glutamine, tyrosine, arginine, cysteine, histidine, tryptophan, amino acids, etc., they describe the building blocks of proteins that is beneficial to human body.

The nutritional value of 100 g of dry nest includes:
- 49.9 g of water-soluble protein (including amido nitrogen, monoamine nitrogen, non-amino nitrogen, arginine, humin, histidine, lysine and cysteine),
- 30.6 g carbohydrate (glycoprotein and mucin),
- 4.9 g iron,
- 2.5 g inorganic salt (including potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur,
phosphorus, silica and other trace elements)
- 1.4 g fiber

Bird's nest is a delicacy in the form of nests constructed by the salivary secretions of swiftlets. It contains all the beneficial essence from the swiftlet's diet, and therefore is good for overall well-being, especially for those pregnant women and elderly, however the benefit of bird nest also applies to everyone.

See the following for quick summary of benefit:
For expecting mothers:
1) It helps to strengthen the body of mothers and foetus
2) Mothers can recover faster post-birth due to Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF)

For women:
1) It results in fairer and more radiant skin as bird's nest is rich in collagen, protein and vitamins
2) Women who frequently consume bird's nest also have smoother skin, and are more youthful and radiant (prevent wrinkles, rejuvenate complexion)
3) It also improves organ performance, e.g. lungs, kidneys and heart

For men:
1) It improves kidneys and strengthens lungs

For children:
1) It strengthens the immune system
2) It helps prevent common cold and flu, and alleviate asthma
3) It also reduces fatigue and improves focus

For elderly:
1) It helps in maintain general health and well-being
2) It prevents cancer, strengthen the lungs and kidneys, improves quality of spleen, clears phlegm, aids digestion and enhance appetite

Bird Nest Category:
Bird Nest usually fall into caves and house nests. Cave nests are harvested mainly in natural caves, since the cave nest is formed by free swiflet bird, some consider them to be more expensive therefore, they are sold at higher prices. But the reality is that usually cave nests contain pollutants and in danger of heavy metals contamination from the environment.

House nests are made in in the attic of houses and shops, abandoned or neglected areas in Indonesia but human has knowledge to control the best environment for swiflet to produce a high quality bird nest and at the same time protecting the bird and eggs from danger.

“House Nests” Are As Good If Not Better Than “Cave Nests”
In Indonesia, “cave” bird's nests are mainly harvested from natural caves in the Borneo Island.
The harvesters often face considerable danger when harvesting the nests but to avoid destroying the nature, more and more law are created to prevent over-harvesting bird nest directly from natural cave.

Since “cave nests” are formed by free, naturally-living swiflets, some consider them to be more valuable than nests found in houses, and they often fetch a higher price. However, unknown to many consumers, cave nests generally contain more foreign materials and feathers than house nests. Besides, cave nest are exposed to the risk of heavy metals contamination from environmental factors. So, consume cave bird's nest at your own risk!

Red Blood Bird's Nest (Red Bird Nest) Is Not As Good As You Think!
It is believed that the red-coloured “blood bird nest” is specially prized because they are formed by swiftlets which vomit their blood to build the nest. There is also a belief that the “blood bird nest” was form by a different species of swiftlet which consumes different kinds of water and food.

Contrary to these beliefs, swiftlets do not vomit blood, neither do they consume different kinds of water and food. Bird's nests acting like a sponge. They absorb the chemical element from the environment such as iron from the walls, dirty waters and poisons. Hence, “blood bird nest” may be harmful rather than beneficial to humans.

Some dishonest vendors even apply red dye to their bird’s nests in order to fetch higher prices. So, play it safe – choose only pure bird’s nest!

How to identify the Genuine Bird's Nest ?
Bird's nest is an expensive and nutritive product. Thus it is important to distinguish the genuine bird's nest. In the market, there are many unethical businessmen who would increase the weight of bird's nest by adding additives like white fungus, jelly and skin.

The following image describe how to identify fake bird nest: (Article from http://birdnestfarm.wordpress.com)

Please see our external web links for more information about Bird Nest Facts and Knowledge.

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Proteins: Neglected active ingredients in edible bird’s nest

Author links open overlay panelMan Yuan a, Xiaoxian Lin a, Dongliang Wang a b, Jianye Dai a b
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chmed.2023.02.004Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access
Abstract
Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is a kind of natural invigorant with a long history of consumption in Asia, especially in China. EBN is formed by mixing the saliva of swiftlets (Aerodramus) with feathers and other components during the breeding season. Proteins are the most important nutrient in EBN. By studying proteins in EBN, we can not only elucidate their components at the molecular level, but also study their bioactivities. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the proteins in EBN. Previous research on the proteins in EBN was preliminary and cursory, and no one has summarized and analyzed the proteins in EBN and correlated the bioactivities of these proteins with the biological functions of EBN. This article focused on the proteins in EBN, listed the proteins identified in different proteomic studies, and introduced the sources, structures and bioactivities of the most frequently identified proteins, including acidic mammalian chitinase, lysyl oxidase homolog 3, mucin-5AC, ovoinhibitor, nucleobindin-2, calcium-binding protein (MW: 4.5 × 104) and glucose-regulated protein (MW: 7.8 × 104). The properties of these proteins are closely related to the bioactivities of EBN. Therefore, this article can provide inspiration for further research on the efficacy of EBN.