What is Bird Spit Soup , secret unveiled

Hi there, if you have never come into contact with Bird Spit Soup before, youmust be wondering what’s all this fuss about Bird Spit Soup  . What is Bird Spit Soup  , really ? What is so great about Bird Spit Soup and why is it so expensive.  Well, Bird Spit Soup or to be more exact Bird Spit Soup are actually nests woven by the secreted saliva of certain swiftlet species during their breeding seasons. It is widely consumed as a health food due to its high beneficial effects to human health and has been considered to be one of the most precious food items by the Chinese for thousands of years.  It is frequently being referred to as the “Caviar of the East” because  it fetches a premium price and regarded as an esteemed food product in the East.

History of Bird Spit Soup  

There were many versions on the history of Bird Spit Soup  , but the mostadmiral cheng ho
interesting one attributed the discovery of Bird Spit Soup to Admiral Cheng Ho of the Ming Dynasty. According to the legend, Admiral Cheng Ho encountered a big thunderstorm during one of his sailing expedition across the south east asian sea during the 15th century. He and his subordinates were stranded on a malay island and they were seriously short of food supplies. In their search for food, they found these Bird Spit Soup  stuck to the side of the cliffs. As they were desperately in need of food and nourishment, they boiled these Bird Spit Soup  in water and consumed them to fill their stomachs.
After consuming these Bird Spit Soup  for a while, Admiral Cheng Ho realized that the soldiers were getting more energized, and some sick soldiers were even recovering faster from their illness. Some even gained healthier complexions. Realizing the health benefits of these newly found Bird Spit Soup , Admiral Cheng Ho brought some back to present to the Emperor. Since then, Bird Spit Soup became a food delicacy in the palace, serving primarily the royal families. The emperor’s wife and concubines will especially consume Bird Spit Soup regularly to maintain their beauty and youthful looks.

What is Bird Spit Soup , secret unveiled

White-Nest Swiftlet and Black-Nest Swiftlet

Not all nests produced by swiftlets are edible. The nests of the white-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) and the black-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus maximus) are constructed from the saliva of the swiftlets and these specifies actually produce the Bird Spit Soup. There are other swiftlet species that construct their nests largely out of vegetation such as grass, feather and mud and these nests necessarily do not have any commercial values. In Malaysia, the nests of the white-nest swiftlet and the black-nest swiftlet are heavily harvested.

White-Nest Swiftlet

The white-nest swiftlet is a small bird of the swift family which can be white-nest swiftletfound in South East Asia. Its nest is made of solidified saliva and is harvested and used to make Bird Spit Soup . It is roughly about 11 to 12 cm long and weighs 15 to 18 grams. The plumage is blackish-brown above, paler on the under parts. The rump is slightly paler than the rest of the upper parts. The tail is slightly forked and the wings are long and narrow. It’s bill and feet are black.

Black-Nest Swiftlet

The black-nest swiftlet also makes it’s nest from solidified saliva. black-nest swiftletIt shares a lot of similarities with the white-nest swiftlet except for a few differences. A white-nest swiftlet has shorter wings, a deeper tail-notch, and a darker underpart compared to its close homolog, black-nest swiftlet.

Swiftlet life cycles

The life cycles and of swiftlets and their behaviours in various habitat conditions have been observed and studied in detail over a long period of time. Swiftlets are known to be monogamous and breed with high nest site fidelity (Viruhpintu et al., 2002). Swiftlets start to breed roughly at the age of one-year-old (Nguyen, Quang & Voisin, 2002). However, the breeding cycle and the associated breeding activities such as the nest-building, egg laying, egg incubation and young rearing may vary across different species and geological regions. These variations could be influenced by climatic factors such as the amount of rainfall, air humidity, and food availability (Langham, 1980).
Generally speaking, the breeding cycle of a swiftlet species is approximately 92–120 days with a clutch size of two eggs (Langham, 1980; Lim et al., 2002; Viruhpintu et al., 2002). Black-nest swiftlet produces a single egg clutch with an approximate egg size of 16-25 mm; while white-nest swiftlet normally lays two eggs per clutch with approximate egg size of 10-15mm. The incubation and fledging periods for both white-nest swiftlet and black-nest swiftlet were 23±3 days and 43±6 days, respectively (Langham, 1980; Lim et al., 2002; Medway, 1962). Swiftlets breed throughout the year but mostly from October to February (Langham, 1980). Swiftlets take approximately 30-45 days to complete a single nest during the breeding season and about 60-80 days in non-breeding season (Aowphol, Voris, Feldheim, Harnyuttanakorn & Thirakhupt, 2008). According to Marcone (2005), nests are built almost exclusively by male swiftlets in approximately 35 days; however Lim et al (2002) reported that both male and female participate in the nest building.

Cave Bird Spit Soup versus House Bird Spit Soup  

Edible-nest swiftlets are aerial insectivores, which take prey like flies on
the wing. They roost and breed in caves. During the day they leave the caves to forage for food, and return to roost at night. They are monogamous and both partners take part in caring for the nestlings. Males perform aerial displays to attract females and mating occurs at the nest. The breeding season overlaps the wet season, which corresponds to an increased insect population. Basically Bird Spit Soup may be categorised as cave Bird Spit Soup or house Bird Spit Soup based on the habitat of the swiftlet.
Cave Bird Spit Soup  
The cave Bird Spit Soup comes from the natural habitat of the edible-nest swiftlets. Swiftlet breed naturally on limestone caves anNiah Caved clings to the surface of the walls and ceilings of these caves. From research studies, it was found that swiftlets construct their nests at different areas of the cave wall to avoid interspecific competition for nestling space, and both the black-nest swiftlets and white nest swiftlets select their nestling areas by unique characteristics and not randomly. It was also found that the white nest is commonly distributed at low altitude natural cave up to 1280 m highland while black-nest swiflet normally roosts from sea level to a height of 1830 m (Lim et al., 2002). Researchers speculated that the black-nest swiftlet is able to fly and live at higher altitude due to its larger body and larger wings.
Most edible swiftlets live in the tropical Indo-Pacific region and do not migrate. These birds usually remain in one cave or other roosting/nesting site. Examples of cave sites include the Niah Caves and Gunung Mulu National Park, which are both located in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.
The caves are also well known for the Bird Spit Soup industry. They are also a popular tourist destination in Sarawak. Every section of the ceiling in the caves where there are birds roosting is privately owned and only the owner has the right to collect the nests. Collection is done half-yearly (usually in January and in June). The collector will climb up hundreds of feet on a single pole to the cave ceiling and scrapes off the nest in flickering candlelight.
House Bird Spit Soup  
House Bird Spit Soup  are basically Bird Spit Soup  that are collected from Nesting Housethe man-made habitat of edible-nest swiftlets. With the escalation in demand for Bird Spit Soup  , the natural sources of Bird Spit Soup from limestone caves have been supplanted since the late 1990s by purpose-built nesting houses.
In swiftlet farming industry, man created an artificial house that resembles the natural habitat for swiftlets to roost. Studies on swiftlet nesting behaviours in natural habitat provide important information to improve the breeding environment of swiftlet houses. Man-made swiftlet houses are cave-like environments that allow the swiftlets to construct nests. Swiftlet houses can be found all over Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand due to the active swiftlet farming industry of both white-nest and black-nest swiftlets. Generally, swiftlet houses are normally built close to the coast or far inland to create suitable conditions for swiftlet farming. Several elements such as light intensity, temperature, air velocity and humidity were controlled and optimised in order to replicate a suitable living environment for the swiftlets. The main entrance hole of a swiftlet house is usually designed near the top of the structure in order to avoid direct sunlight and to limit the light intensity of the structure (Sankaran, 2001). Normally, the building is constructed as a closed structure with only a limited number of ventilation holes. Air movement will cause evaporation to reduce the humidity level and air temperature inside the building. The temperature is controlled by the air ventilation while humidity is controlled by the installed humidifiers and the pools of water provided inside the structure. Temperature and humidity are important to ensure nestling success and produce good quality nests.
This has become an extraordinary industry, mainly based on a series of towns in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, which have been completely transformed by the activity.
From there the nests are mostly exported to the markets in Hong Kong, which has become the centre of the world trade, though most of the final consumers are from mainland China.

About Bird Spit Soup  

Bird Spit Soup is considered a delicacy. It is expensive to produce.

Bird Spit Soup  

Bird Spit Soup  is a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. The Chinese name for Bird Spit Soup , yàn wo, translates literally as “swallow’s nest”. This soup has been consumed in China for over 1000 years. According to Yun-Cheung Kong, a professor of biochemistry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, swiftlet nests were first traded in China during the T’ang Dynasty (618907 A.D.). Sometime between the years 1368 and 1644, Admiral Cheng introduced foreign nests to the imperial court of the Ming Dynasty. It is believed that even at this point in time, domestic supplies of the nests had been largely depleted which created high import demand. Bird Spit Soup are among the most expensive products consumed by human. The material is also used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and in Traditional Vietnamese Medicine.
The nests are made by a relatively small number of species of swiftlet, namely cave swifts, which have a unique chemical texture to the saliva they use to make their nests. The soup and a mostly clear gelatin served in small jars is now very popular throughout Asia, perhaps because of its reputation as an aphrodisiac and having traditional health enhancing qualities. Based on recent research, it appears that this claim of health benefits is not a myth but based on real fact. According to a recent medical research reported by Hong Kong Chinese University, the cell division enzyme and hormone of Bird Spit Soup can promote reproduction and regeneration of human cells. It also helps promote one’s immune system and enhances body metabolism.

Harvesting Bird Spit Soup  

Swiftlets (collocaliini) are tiny insectivorous birds that are distributed from the Indian Ocean, through Southeast Asia including Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia and North Australia to the Pacific. The small birds live insects as its diet; they start hunting for food starting from daybreak until sunset and catch these insects on the wings. Amongst various species of swiftlets in the genus of Collocalia, only the nests of four species mostly spread throughout Southeast Asian region have commercial value because of human consumption. They are Collocalia fuciphaga, Collocalia germanis, Collocalia maxima and Collocalia unicolor. Collocalia species are relatively small and average 6.5g in weight, and have glossy plumage. Each of these species produces nests with salivary glue as a cementing substance, while some incorporates other materials such as vegetation or feathers. It takes the bird about 20-35 days to finish the nest. The nests take the shape of a shallow cup stuck to the cave wall. The nests which are composed of interwoven strands of salivary laminae cement have high levels of calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium. The Bird Spit Soup (➩ぽ in Chinese) made up of pure salivary glue are much more expensive than those incorporating other materials which are considered of lesser value.
According to reports, the most heavily harvested nests are from the Edible-nest Swiftlet or White-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) and the Black-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus maximus). The white nests and the “red blood” nests are supposedly rich in nutrients which are traditionally believed to provide health benefits, such as aiding digestion, raising libido, improving the voice, alleviating asthma, improving focus, and an overall benefit to the immune system.

The Business of Producing and Bringing to Market Bird Spit Soup

China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are the largest importers of these Bird Spit Soup  . In Hong Kong a bowl of Bird Spit Soup  would cost between $30 USD and $100 USD. A kilogram of white nest can cost up to $2,000 USD, and a kilogram of “red blood” nest can cost up to $10,000 USD. The white nests are commonly treated with a red pigment and methods have been developed to determine an adulterated or altered nest from the original. The nests were formerly harvested from caves, principally the enormous limestone caves at Gomantong and Niah in Borneo. With the escalation in demand these sources have been supplanted since the late 1990s by purpose-built nesting houses, usually reinforced concrete structures either in the form of shop houses, theatres and so forth.
These nesting houses are normally found in urban areas adjoining the sea, since the birds have a propensity to flock in such places. This industry has transformed many towns in the Indonesian Province of North Sumatra as well as limited areas in such as Vietnam, Thailand and the Palawan area of the Philippines.
Bird Spit Soups are harvested in an ecologically sustainable way. The birds are nurtured and the nests are never removed while the eggs or small birds are present. The nests are collected from Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand and elsewhere else and mostly exported to Hong Kong, which has become the centre of the world trade; although most of the final consumers are from mainland China. In Indonesia, the importance of this trade has become very large. It has been estimated that the products now account for 0.5% of the Indonesian GDP, equivalent to about a quarter of the country’s fishing industry. Health Benefits of Bird Spit Soup
The medicinal use of Bird Spit Soup  can be traced back to the 17th century but maybe even earlier. In Hong Kong and in Chinese diaspora locations throughout the world, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is often used to treat diseases and enhance health. It is believed that TCM herbs have wideranging effects for enhancing health, lowering risk of diseases and promoting life span. Being one of the TCMs, Bird Spit Soup  is believed to have health enhancing effects such as antiaging, growth promoting and immuno-enhancing properties. However, unlike other traditional medicine materials Bird Spit Soup  is different from most of the TCMs. It is unique in that it is not only a medicine to make people healthy but also a pleasant food to be consumed and enjoyed.
Traditionally, it is double boiled with rock sugar to make a delicacy known as “Bird Spit Soup ”. The gelatin drink that is served in small glass bottles also is processed with rock sugar and has a slightly sweet taste.
Although the size of Collocalia bird is small, the market generated by it is quite large and growing at double digit rates. Malaysia is the world’s third largest supplier of Bird Spit Soups after Thailand and Indonesia, contributing 10 percent of the 210 tonnes, worth up to $4 billion US dollars and consumed annually by top buyers in China and Taiwan. The size and importance of this market is huge for all of these countries. For example, today there are 40,000 swallow houses in Malaysia with some 8,000 people taking part in swallow farming activities. Also according to the Malaysian Federation of Bird Spit Soup Merchants Association Malaysia’s annual production of Bird Spit Soup  had reached 1 billion ringgit (290 million U.S. dollars) in value and was expected to hit 5 billion ringgit (1.47 billion U.S. dollars) in another five years. In Vietnam, many of the Bird Spit Soup companies earn millions of US dollars in sales of their products which have a good reputation both domestically and internationally.
Why is Hong Kong the leading consumer of Bird Spit Soups? t may be due to the fact that people in Hong Kong are increasingly concerned about their health and the status of TCM has risen after a series of government policies on TCM. Moreover, the dual nature of Bird Spit Soup  both as medicine and/or food plays a role in centrally linking cultural pastime in Hong Kong. In the past, people could only buy dried Bird Spit Soup and render them in a fairly time consuming process. This has changed and currently a large variety of Bird Spit Soup  related products have emerged in the market. These products are mostly ready to serve products with no cooking process is required. Most of these products are still in the traditional form which is the soup but packaged as instant Bird Spit Soup in different concentrations. Some instant Bird Spit Soup may also be supplemented with other TCMs.
Apart from the traditional form, there is a trend of using Bird Spit Soup  extract as one of the chief ingredients of the products. These products focus mainly on the medicinal use of Bird Spit Soup . However, some of them may exaggerate the evidence of therapeutic use of Bird Spit Soup . For the limited supply and high price of Bird Spit Soup , it is not uncommon to hear reports of fake Bird Spit Soup  in the market. The imitation substitute commonly used is the edible plant-exude, gum karaya or sterculia. Recently, there are reports of fake Bird Spit Soup  made from fish skin, mushroom or algae in China. Because of these reports, there are increasing concerns on authenticating the genuineness of Bird Spit Soup .

Nutritional Content and Medicinal Use of Bird Spit Soup  

Bird Spit Soup  contains mainly amino acids, carbohydrates and mineral salts. The major ingredients of Bird Spit Soup  are glycoproteins and sialic acid (9%) is the major carbohydrate. It was found that exogenous source of sialic acid may contribute to neurological and intellectual advantages in infants. However, the nutritional and biological mechanisms of sialic acid in human body are still being studied. The other major carbohydrates include 7.2% galactosamine, 5.3% glucosamine, 16.9% galactose and 0.7% fructose.
Amino acids and mineral salts are also important components in Bird Spit Soup . The three non-essential amino acids (aspartic acid, glutamic acid, praline) and two essential amino acids (threonine and valine) helps facilitate normal body functions such as cell repair and promote immunity. Bird Spit Soup  is rich in mineral salts such as sodium and calcium. It is because the source of Bird Spit Soup  is derived from the saliva of Collocalia which mainly inhabits limestone caves. Not only that, it also has low levels of magnesium, zinc, manganese and iron.
In spite of the long history of using Bird Spit Soup  for medicinal purposes, there is not much scientific research related to the therapeutic use of Bird Spit Soup  . The earliest recent scientific evidence was given by Ng et al. (1986) in Hong Kong. Bird Spit Soup  aqueous extract was found in his studies to potentiate mitogenic response of human peripheral blood monocytes to stimulation with proliferative agents, Concanavalin A and Phytohemagglutinin A. The results of this research suggested that Bird Spit Soup  might possess immune enhancing effect by aiding cell division of immune cells.
One year later, scientific evidence was published by Kong et al. This study demonstrated an epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like activity in aqueous extract of Bird Spit Soup  that stimulated the DNA synthesis in 3T3 fibroblast in a dose dependent manner in vitro. EGF is a 6,000 Da polypeptide hormone produced by glands of the gastrointestinal tract, namely the salivary and Brunner’s glands. It appears to play a crucial role in major normal cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation and development. It may offer a rationale for the medicinal use of Bird Spit Soup  in ageing resistance. Since the receptor for EGF is highly expressed in a number of solid tumours, including breast, head-and-neck, non-small-cell lung, renal, ovarian and colon cancer, people are worried about a possibility in inducing tumour progression and resistant to chemotherapy/radiation treatment in tumour cells. In conclusion, it is suggested that cancer patients should avoid Bird Spit Soup . In fact, there is no evidence supporting this suggestion. Researchers have evaluated the effects of aqueous extract of Bird Spit Soup  on the viability on two human cancer cell lines, human breast cancer MCF-7 (ATCC HTB-22) and human liver cancer HepG2 (ATCC HB-8065). There was no observable effect on cell viability when the result is compared with the control group (unpublished data).
In 1994, a research team in China evaluated the pharmacological effects of Bird Spit Soup  and pearl powder containing formulation. The formulation was demonstrated to have immuno enhancing effects by elevating DNA synthesis of T-lymphocytes and circulating immunoglobulin M content in mice. In addition, the formulation also showed ageing retardation by increasing the level of superoxide dimutase. However, the study did not explore whether the effects came from either Bird Spit Soup , pearl powder or both.

Further Studies on Bird Spit Soup  

Bird Spit Soup  has been used for hundreds or probably thousands of years. Despite this, scientific evidence for its efficacy is still limited. The claimed health benefits such as resisting aging and improving immunity of Bird Spit Soup  is yet to be conclusively proven.
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