A novel rapid enzymatic treatment to facilitate removal of impurities from raw edible bird nest

Abstract

Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is a delicacy known as the “Caviar of the East” made from salivary secretions from a swiftlet. A bird nest is processed by clearing the feathers off from the nests cement after washing briefly in distilled water. The tedious process of clearing the feathers requires skilled and patient labor, since this process is time consuming due to the size of the feathers that is hardly seen. Currently, the cleaning process use hydrogen peroxide as a bleching agent. Usage of this chemical is not safe for human consumption and will reduce the nutritional value of edible bird nest. This study is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of using enzymes to facilitate the cleaning process of EBN to enhanced the quality for health and vitality.