Prized in China for
its alleged health benefits for hundreds of years, nests made from swiftlets'
saliva are being mixed into coffee and cereal as the Southeast Asian producers
of the delicacy seek to broaden its appeal, and their profit margins.
The nests are among the world's most expensive foods, selling for up to
$2,500 a kg and the swiftlets that weave them are indigenous to Indonesia,
Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. China consumes almost 90 percent of all Edible
Bird’s Nests, traditionally eaten in soup, creating an industry that last year
recorded $5 billion in sales and which executives expect to double by 2020.
Companies such as Malaysia's Swiftlet Eco Park, one of the country's largest
developers of swiftlet houses, want bigger gains by expanding their product
line and market beyond China, where importers can often dictate the price.
"Ask anybody in the industry where is your market and they'll say China
and Hong Kong. Everybody is going there," said Group Managing Director
Loke Yeu Loong. "We are looking at new markets, but if I sell raw Edible
Bird’s Nest to Europe or India, they don't even know how to cook it."
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| Edible Bird’s Nests Made with Saliva: One of the World's Most Expensive Foods |
Swiftlet Eco makes coffee, skin care, puddings and candies with Edible
Bird’s Nest. Loke declined to give specific sales figures but said the profit
margin on some of these products was 10 times more than the raw nests.
The company is also spending big on marketing Edible Bird’s Nest as a health
food in the Middle East, Europe and the United States and plans to raise about
$30 million through an initial public offering and New York listing in the
third quarter of this year.
Southeast Asian swiftlets' nests are particularly popular in the Lunar New
Year festivities, which began in China last week, and are believed to be rich
in nutrients that can help digestion, raise libido and improve the immune
system. Malaysia is the world's largest producer of raw nests after Indonesia.
Lee Kong Heng, president of the Malaysian Federation of Edible Bird’s Nest
Traders Association, says marketing Edible Bird’s Nest as a supplement would
attract younger, wealthier and more health-conscious consumers worldwide.
Vietnam's largest Edible Bird’s Nest producer Company is also keen to play
up the benefits of the delicacy.
Malaysian Edible Bird’s Nest producers are well placed to market to the
majority Muslim Middle Eastbecause the nests are halal, or a food permissible
under Islam, Swiftlet Eco Park's Loke said. With more research, he hopes Edible
Bird’s Nest will become a global phenomenon. "We can conduct research and
prove the benefit of consuming Edible Bird’s Nest scientifically," he
said.
Edible Bird’s Nest
Products
The Edible-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) is a small bird of the
swift family which is found in South-east Asia. Its nest is entirely made of
solidified saliva with little or no plant material. The nests are made by the
males during a period of 35 days.
Its diet consists of flying insects which are caught on the wing. Naturally
these swiftlets breed in colonies in caves, in a cleft in a cliff or sometimes
on a building.
The bracket-shaped nest is white and translucent and is made of layers of
hardened saliva attached to the rock. It measures about 6 cm across with a
depth of 1.5 cm and a weight of about 14 grams.
Average Edible Bird’s Nest contain about 62 per cent proteins including
amino acids, about 27 per cent carbohydrate and a few per cent minerals, fat
and moisture.
The most common nests have a white to grayish color. There are also more
expensive yellow to orange and red colored nests (also called: red blood nests)
marketed, which are harvested from limestone caves and the specific color is
natural due to the environment. Red nests are thought to be more potent than
then the yellow-orange and they should be more potent then the white ones.
Introduction
The Edible Bird’s Nest are made by the "South East Asia's
swiftlets" (Aerodramus fuciphagus). These sparrows like birds construct
their nest with glutinous strands of starched like saliva produced by a pair of
large, salivary glands under their tongue.
These very special kind of nests are found mostly in Hainan Island of China,
Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo Island
(consisting of Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei and Kalimantan) and the Philippines.
The collectors of Edible Bird’s Nest harvest about 5 times a year, but
assure that the bird's can reproduce during the months February until July.
The traditional method of harvesting has not been able to keep up with the
escalating demand for Edible Bird’s Nest, prompting some inventive technology.
Concrete or wood nesting houses have been built along the sea coast, mostly in
Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
vogelnestjes geoogst Photo: Edible Bird’s Nest just after harvesting. After
collection comes the tedious process of cleaning the nests. They are soaked in
water to soften the nest cement so that feathers and bits of dirt can be
removed with tweezers.
benseng-vogelnestjes wit premium kwaliteit Photo: Real white Edible Bird’s Nest
from premium quality after cleaning.
Application
In some countries of Southeast Asia the edible nests are mainly consumed as
a delicacy used in the preparation of soups and other dishes. The soup is made
by soaking the nests in plenty of water. Then let it simmer for as long it
takes for the Edible Bird’s Nest to dissolve completely. In this way it is also
possible to brew a tea from it.
It is said that cave nests are better as it takes up to three hours to
double boil them while nests farmed in houses or other manmade structures take
only 30 minutes.
Occasionally Edible Bird’s Nest are used as food supplements. For this
application either the dry nests are ground into powder or an extract is made
from it.
Externally edible nest extracts are sometimes worked in cosmetics. Facial
masks and beauty crèmes are sighted in the market.
Industrial application
There are still no industrial application known of the Edible Bird’s Nest.
Dosage
The optimum beneficial dosage of the Edible Bird’s Nest has not been
supported by any scientific research.
Because it is such a costly ingredient, for therapeutic purposes most often
5-10 grams of dried whole Edible Bird’s Nest (1-2 dry nests) are taken as soup
or tea 2-4 times a week for as long as the complaints last.
For cosmetic purposes it is sufficient to use only 1-2 nests weekly.
Contra-indications
The use of Edible Bird’s Nest can generally be regarded as safe.
Nevertheless one should make sure that the real Edible Bird’s Nests are
obtained.
- Edible
Bird’s Nest should not be taken by children or adolescents, because of
increased risk of food-induced anaphylaxis.
- Ovotransferrin
is known to be responsible for egg allergies, and interestingly, very
similar reactions have been seen in some young children after consuming
Edible Bird’s Nest soup.
- There are
fake nests in the market that can contain harm full ingredients.
- The red
colour of the very expensive Red blood nests is sometimes artificially
made by adding large amounts of sodium nitrite. Nitrite is a toxic
substance that is highly carcinogenic.
This document is for professionals only. It is the responsibility of the
user to refer to the laws in force in the country of sale and determine the
relevance of the products for the intended use. This ingredient is not intended
to treat, cure or prevent any disease. The allegations have not all been
evaluated by EFSA, they are not intended to be labelled on a commodity to the
consumer.
