Bird’s Nest Soup: Production, Health & Product Quality

Bird’s Nest Soup: Production, Health & Product Quality

Bird’s Nest Soup: Production, health and product quality

Center of Excellence on Swiftlets

FACULTY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

Synopsis:

The Bird’s Nest Soup industry in Malaysia is rapidly growing due to the demand for BIRD’S NEST SOUPs 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 Bird’s Nest Soup swiftlet 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.

Keywords:

Bird’s Nest 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 Bird’s Nest 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 Bird’s Nest Soup extract against influenze A virus (IAV) infection.
Medicinal Properties, Nutritional Values and Safety Profiles of Bird’s Nest Soup.
The development of Bird’s Nest 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-birdnest(Bird’s Nest Soup) : Method Validation
A study on Bird’s Nest Soup: Immunomodulation, neuronal differentiation of Mesencymal stem cell and neuronal regeneration capability
Development of Quality Index for Bird’s Nest Soup After Cleaning and Processing
The potential of Bird’s Nest Soup Extract as Anti-Cancer Agent and Immunoadjuvant on Human Breast Cancer
Isolation and Identification of Bacteria from Swiflets and Bird’s Nest Soup (Bird’s Nest Soup ) and the Anti-bacterial Properties of Bird’s Nest Soup
Parasites of Aerodramus fuciphagus in Perak, Malaysia
Development of multiplex Taqman real-time polymerase chain reaction method for rapid and sensitive authentication of Bird’s Nest Soup
Economic analysis of Bird’s Nest 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 Bird’s Nest Soup - Determination of Sialic Acid (05/11 - 12/13)
Prof Dr Jothi Malar Panandam UPM -
Genetic Characterisation of the Malaysian Bird’s Nest Soups (08/11 - 07/13)

Recent Publications:

Bird’s Nest 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 Edible Bird's-Nest Swiftlet (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 BIRD’S NEST SOUP EXTRACT AGAINST ANIMAL CORONAVIRUS