The quality assurance of edible bird's nest : removal of nitrite contamination and identification of an indicative chemical marker

Edible bird's nest (EBN; 燕窩, Yan Wo) is a glue-like substance secreted by the specific glands of the swiftlets (e.g. Aerodramus fuciphagus), which is valuable Chinese delicacy for several hundreds of years. Despite of the long history of human consumption, the detailed chemical compositions and biological functions of EBN are largely unknown. In this report, a comprehensive research on EBN including food safety, quality control and potential biological functions was performed. A high content of nitrite (NO2-), a toxic food additive, was found in EBN, which aroused the public concern on the safety of EBN consumption. Here, the nitrite content of EBN selling in the market of Hong Kong was investigated. The traditional processing method in EBN cooking was evaluated for the efficie...[ Read more ]