Found in the caves of many parts of Southeast Asia, bird’s nests have become an important health food
become an important health food
jphpk.gov.my
By Nabilla
The royal family of the 16th century Ming Dynasty in China, it seems, has long known about the beneficial effects of bird’s nest.
It was only in this century, however, that the bird’s nest really came into its own for its skin healing and beautifying properties.
According to zoologist and curator of Natural History for Sarawak Museum Dr Charles Leh, studies by universities in Southeast Asia, Japan and Hongkong have shown that the product (which comes from the saliva of a type of swiftlet), contains up to 20 types ofglyco-proteins. This substance is easily digested and assimilated.
Leh adds that studies are being done in other parts of the world to identify the types of protein. “This will be very useful for downstream research and development of better products from bird’s nest. Very rarely do animal products have water-soluble protein”, says Leh, who is also the advisor for Eu Yan Sang (EYS) Chinese Traditional Medicine bird’s nest products.
Other studies have also shown that bird’s nest contains an epidermal growth factor that helps in blood function as well as cell regeneration.
Eu Yan Sang development manager Lee Jok Keng says these qualities in bird’s nest make them an excellent source of protein and energy for patients recuperating from operations and injuries.
“Bird’s nests are very digestible with a very low ash and residue content. It can also help surgical patients’ tissue repair faster”.
The swiftlets’ saliva glands are most productive during the breeding season from August to January. Leh says during the breeding period, the bird flies a 1 to 10km radius searching for food.
The Aerodramus Maximus or black-nest swiftlet, which produces most of the edible bird’s nest, is also the only swiftlet that can navigate through echo-location. This enables it to feed into dusk where there are more insects.
It then goes back to the caves to build its nest with one strand of saliva every evening.
It takes 35 to 40 days for a pair of swiftlets to complete a nest. Upon completion, the female swiftlet takes seven to 10 days to lay its eggs which hatches in three weeks. The swiftlets take 50 days to fledge.
Leh says many areas from Thailand to Borneo produce edible birds nest. Borneo, with its ancient limestone caves, is the centre of production for high-quality nests that are rich in iron and calcium.
This is because the nests absorb nutrients that leach from the cave walls. The minerals also give the nests the reddish hues.
Leh says that the Sarawak Forestry, Wildlife and Park Department regulates the collection of birds nest. “The swiftlets never nest in the same nest as it will rot and fall off the wall several months later”.
Only nests that are used by the swiftlets are collected as doing otherwise will threaten its existence. “Under our conservation programme, if the nests are not harvested after the birds have used them, they will have less spave to breed”, Leh says.
In Sabah, the edible black nest harvest is 10 tonnes a year. Most of it is sent to Hongkong for consumption and re-export.
EYS for its part is the producer of superior bottled birds nest products called Fa Yien that uses nest strands for the first time. These products contain no preservatives and additives.
EYS is also the only company that produces processed and cleaned whole nests. The company is also doing its part by carrying out research on house breeding and farming of other swift species that build nests with saliva.
