The Truth About Birds Saliva Soup

Scouring around for leads on new eye serums, I found myself on the site of an Asian skincare brand called BioEssence. It touts a potion called Birds Saliva Soup + Peptides and, yes, it really does include Birds Saliva Soup. BioEssence claims this improbable ingredient contains “nutri-collagen”. Birds Saliva Soup potions have been coming on to my radar recently (of which more later) and so I decided to see if they could be anything more than a flight of fancy.

The Truth About Birds Saliva Soup

The type of nest that is eaten in soup or made into cosmetics is the work of the swiftlet (aerodramus fuciphagus), a small member of the swift family and common in Southeast Asia. Clear your mind of a cluster of twigs. The swiftlet nest is made entirely of the Birds Saliva Soup and is pretty impressive as far as nest construction goes — the bracket-shaped nest is white and is made of layers of hardened saliva attached to a rock face or building.
Although apparently cleaned before being incorporated into face cream, it is sobering to remember that a nest is the swiflet equivalent of a double-wide serving as nursery, bathroom and kitchen. But even if I am willing to get past this reservation, I would still like to know whether Birds Saliva Soup has real benefits.
Nutri-collagen, as BioEssence claims, may be pushing things a bit. One study concluded that the nutritional content is mostly protein, followed by carbohydrate. I was about to conclude that Birds Saliva Soups were a hoax, when I found some research that changed my mind. Birds Saliva Soup has epidermal growth factor (source) and is being used in research on cancer (source).
Birds Saliva Soup may be credible, but it won’t be making it into my beauty regimen. There is a tragic backstory to this trending anti-aging ingredient. Birds Saliva Soups are becoming big business for the soup and cosmetic industries and the environmental impact is beginning to look grim.
Some swiftlet populations have been harvested so extensively that they are considered critically threatened. Increasingly nests are taken before the birds have a chance to lay their eggs. Meanwhile, in the last few years, swiftlet nest farming has become big business. I came across websites promising earnings of $1m a year and offering tips for building “houses” that attract swiftlets with tweeters so that they will construct their nests. According to The New York Times, bird houses have been popping up Borneo, creating an unregulated industry to replace logging lost to widespread deforestation.
I have witnessed Borneo’s deforestation first hand, making for a rather depressing vacation a decade or so ago. Thankfully, the plundering of swiftlet nests hadn’t started there then.

Birds Saliva Soup: Production, Health & Product Quality

Synopsis:

The Birds Saliva Soup industry in Malaysia is rapidly growing due to the demand for EBNs nests world-wide. The Aerodramus fuciphagus species that is found only in the South East Asian region is the main target for the industry. There are limited scientific publications on the Birds Saliva Soup in Malaysia such as their genetics and subspecies delineations, various aspects of quality control, variability of diet of this special species, health status and susceptibility to important avian viruses and other important aspects.
Ongoing research in various areas will benefit the industry and economic importance for Malaysia. Many issues related to the industry and government has been addressed especially on the export of the raw nests, product quality, nitrite issues and market surveys by this group and research collaborators from University National Malaysia, University Malaysia Perlis, SIRIM, University Malaysia Kelantan and University Science Malaysia. Therefore, with regards on the above issues and current and future challanges, UPM has been elected as the Center of Excellence on Swiftlet in 2011 by Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Based Industry.

[caption id="attachment_4686" align="aligncenter" width="1300"] Birds Saliva Soup: Production, Health & Product Quality[/caption]

Keywords:

Birds Saliva Soup, health, quality control

Information on Key Researchers:

Professor Datin Paduka Dr Aini Ideris Professor (Leader)
- Avian Medicine Veterinary Clinical Studies (UPM)
Prof Dr Tengku Azmi bin Tengku Ibrahim Professor Dr. Saleha Abdul Aziz - Veterinary Public Health(UPM)
Professor Dr. Jothi Malar Pandandam - Genetic& Breeding Animal Science
Professor Dr. Idris Abd. Ghani
Professor Dr. Abd Salam Babji/ (Nazaruddin Ramli)
Professor Dr. Azhar Kasim - Nutrition Animal Science (Animal Nutrition)
Professor Dr. Rehana Abdullah Sani
Professor Dr. Abdul Rahman Omar
Professor Dr. Shahwahid
Associate Professor Dr Zunita Zakaria
Associate Professor Dr. Jalila Abu - Health and disease Veterinary Clinical Studies (Avian Medicine)
Associate Professor Dr. Hafidzi Mohd Noor - Ecology & Behaviour Plant Protection (Zoology)
Associate Professor Dr Zainab bt Hamzah
Associate Professor Dr Lim Yang Mooi
Dr Hafidzi Mohd Noor
Dr Rashid
Dr Syed Abdul Rahman Al-Haddad Syed Mohamed
Dr Christopher Lim Thiam Seong
Dr Saiful Nizam Tajuddin
Dr Megat Al Imran Bin Yasin
Dr. Lee Ting Hun
Mdm Azizon bt Abdullah
S. Thavamanithevi
Sarifah Rejab

Research Highlights:

Top down research grant from Ministry of Agricultural and Agro Based Industry. Elected UPM as the Centre of Excellence on Swiftlet in 2011.
Research group members headed by section head. In each group, a number of researchers that already well known in their field of research and as expert consultants to government agencies, such as Department of Veterinary Services, Malaysian Department of Plant Protections and Ministry of Health and as well as animal industries. Very strong group of research collaborators all over Malaysia involve in this program with their own niche of experts and disciplines.
Research laboratories of various disciplines which involve in all research areas are available which include the Department of Veterinary Services, Faculty of Agriculture UPM (Department of Animal Science, Department of Plant Protection) and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Bacteriology and Virology Laboratories).
The networking and linkages include having very strong relationship with Malaysian together with the supports from Department of Veterinary Services to support industry needs and outline of research programs.

Current Projects:

Total budget received: Three Million
Swiftlets Wave Sound Detection, Recognition and Synthesis through Spectrogram Processing.
Interaksi fenologi pokok, kepelbagaian serangga dan burung walit. Effective & Sustainable Ranching: Study on Chemical Interaction Between Floral Scent and Birds Saliva Soup Attraction.
Health And Disease Surveillance On Edible-Nest Swiftlets Aerodermus Spesies.
Faktor-faktor Yang Mempengaruhi Kualiti Tinja Burung Walit Di Malaysia Dan Potensi Penggunannya Untuk Penjanaan Ekonomi.
Evaluation of antiviral properties of Birds Saliva Soup extract against influenze A virus (IAV) infection.
Medicinal Properties, Nutritional Values and Safety Profiles of Birds Saliva Soup.
The development of Birds Saliva Soup downstream products
Optimizing Feeds and Feeding for Edible-Nest Swiftlets.
The Digestive System Of The Swiftlets - An Ultrastructural Study
Penyelidikan dan Penerbitan Dokumentari Burung Walit Ke Persada Dunia
Quality Assessment using Sensor Technology from UniMAP
Compositional Variations of Nitrites, Nutritional, Mineral and Heavy Metal in Raw-clean Edible-Birds Saliva Soup : Method Validation
A study on Birds Saliva Soup: Immunomodulation, neuronal differentiation of Mesencymal stem cell and neuronal regeneration capability
Development of Quality Index for Birds Saliva Soup After Cleaning and Processing
The potential of Birds Saliva Soup Extract as Anti-Cancer Agent and Immunoadjuvant on Human Breast Cancer
Isolation and Identification of Bacteria from Swiflets and Birds Saliva Soup and the Anti-bacterial Properties of Birds Saliva Soup
Parasites of Aerodramus fuciphagus in Perak, Malaysia
Development of multiplex Taqman real-time polymerase chain reaction method for rapid and sensitive authentication of Birds Saliva Soup
Economic analysis of Birds Saliva Soup industry of Malaysia

Completed Projects:

Dr Hafidzi Mohd Noor -
Geographic distribution and ecological roles of distinct subpopulations of Aerodramus fuciphagus in Malaysia. (09/11 - 09/13)
Dr Rashid MARDI -
The study on Marketing and Competitiveness of Malaysian Swiftlet Industry (04/12 - 10/13)
Prof. Dr. Saleha Abdul Aziz UPM -
Evaluation of the Quality of Edible Birds' Nests Produced in Malaysia (09/11 - 09/13)
S. Thavamanithevi SIRIM -
Characterization and Standardization of Birds Saliva Soup - Determination of Sialic Acid (05/11 - 12/13)
Prof Dr Jothi Malar Panandam UPM -
Genetic Characterisation of the Malaysian Birds Saliva Soups (08/11 - 07/13)

Recent Publications:

Birds Saliva Soup Industry Conference 2012 (November 2012):Poster Abstract
1. Chow G .H., Jalila A., Arshad S.S., Tan S. W., Siti Khatijah M., & Ong K. W. Detection Of Newcastle Disease Virus In Edible-Nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus Fuciphagus) Ranched Under An Oil Palm Plantation In Sungkai, Perak, Malaysia
2. Fhaisol M.A., Intan-Shameha A.R., Zuki, A.B.Z., and Azhar K. Gross Morphology Of The Intestine Of Birds Saliva Soup (Aerodramus Fuciphagus) And House Swift (Apus Nipalensis).
3. Derwin M.D.S.A., Arshad S.S., Mehrbod P., Kamaruddin A.I., Bande F., Jalila A. and Fadzilah-A'ini A.K. A Preliminary Study On In Vitro Evaluation Of ANTIVIRAL PROPERTIES OF BIRDS SALIVA SOUP EXTRACT AGAINST ANIMAL CORONAVIRUS