What is Swallow Bird Nest?

Primarily known as Swallow Nest, Swallow Bird Nest has been consumed by the Chinese people since more than 1500 years ago, firstly discovered during the Tang Dinasty (A.D. 618-907) in China. In the earliest records, it was said that the swallow nests were actually traded for porcelain during that time, and Admiral Cheng Ho returned from South East Asia, bringing back the swallow nest to the Chinese Emperor.

What is Swallow Bird Nest?

Swallow Bird Nest (in Chinese: 燕窩) has been know & used by Chinese communities for centuries as a health food. It is actually the salivary glue of Swallow Bird Nests (Collocaliini) taken from their nests. Swallow Bird Nests are distributed mainly in the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and North Australia. With it high market value, Swallow Bird Nest has been promoted by marketers as highly nutrition food, which is good for skin, anti-aging, lowering risk of disease, and longer life span. Traditionally, it is double boiled with rock sugar. Many celebrities and riches claimed to eat Swallow Bird Nest everyday.

What is Swallow Bird Nest?

What is the Nutrition Value of Swallow Bird Nest?

According to scientific research, Swallow Bird Nest contains mainly carbohydrates, amino acids and mineral salts, glycoproteins, sialic acid, galactosamine, glucosamine, galactose, fucose, etc. Sialic acid has advantages in infants. While some amino acid found can facilitate body's repairing and immunity.

Is Swallow Bird Nest Good or Bad for Cancer Patients?

Scientific evidence was given by Ng et al. (1986) in Hong Kong, suggested that Swallow Bird Nest might possess immunoenhancing effect by aiding cell division of immune cells. In 1987, other scientific evidence was published by Kong et al, demonstrated an epidermal growth factor (EGF) 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 Swallow Bird Nest in ageing resistance. Since the receptor for EGF is highly expressed in a number of solid tumors, including breast, head-and-neck, non-small-cell lung, renal, ovarian and colon cancer, people are worried about a possibility to induce tumor progression and to resist chemotherapy/radiation treatment in tumor cells; in consequence, suggest that cancer patients should avoid Swallow Bird Nest. However, there is no evidence supporting this suggestion. Scientific evidence for its efficacy is still limited.

Introduction to Swallow Bird Nest

Swallow Bird Nest refers to the nests of Swallow Bird Nests, normally made in spring. When the Swallow Bird Nest is making its nest, it produces gelatinous saliva which turns into a translucent, ivory-colored substance. This is the main component of Swallow Bird Nest.

There are two main types of Swallow Bird Nest in the market - the cave nest and the house nest.

Cave Nest
The cave nest refers to nests constructed in caves and on cliffs. As the cave nest is built in caves, they are harder and contain more impurities. Due to lack of regulation of harvesting activities, the ecological environment of the Swallow Bird Nest is being destroyed and this has stirred up much controversy among environmental activists. As such, the production of cave nests is decreasing. Due to the steep terrain of the caves which makes the collection of cave nests difficult and dangerous, the price of cave nests is relatively higher.
House Nest
House nests are nests that are built on Swallow Bird Nest farms. The main differences between the two types of Swallow Bird Nest is the nesting environment, hence the Swallow Bird Nest produced is also different. While the living habits of the Swallow Bird Nests do not change, where they fly off early in the morning for food and return in the evening, the quality of the Swallow Bird Nest produced is different due to the differences in the nesting environment. If the design of the Swallow Bird Nest farm is appropriate, coupled with good management and a clean environment, the Swallow Bird Nest produced contains fewer impurities and is better in quality. House nests are usually harvested on a regular basis, thus the nutrients in the Swallow Bird Nest is maintained.
The formation of Swallow Bird Nest farms is to protect the natural habitat of the Swallow Bird Nest, and at the same time to meet market demands for Swallow Bird Nest. Swallow Bird Nest farms are designed based on the ecological habits of the Swallow Bird Nest where audio equipment is used to lure them into the farm, where their natural habitat is preserved. In this way, the Swallow Bird Nest is being protected and thus increasing in numbers, preserving them from extinction caused by environmental pollution. Normally, Swallow Bird Nests leave the farm to forage in the morning and return in the evening to roost. In principle, the Swallow Bird Nest farm is just a breeding place for the Swallow Bird Nests as they are able to source for food by themselves.

The construction of the Swallow Bird Nest farm is divided into 5 main elements - environment, building materials, temperature, design and audio equipment:

The environment of the Swallow Bird Nest farm
A beautiful environment plays a role in the quality of the Swallow Bird Nest. The ideal place to construct a Swallow Bird Nest farm is in green areas that are far away from the city.
Swallow Bird Nests are just like human, in that they like to live in a peaceful and pleasing environment. When Swallow Bird Nests are able to source for their own food within a conducive environment, they are more likely to produce high quality Swallow Bird Nest.
Conversely, if the environment of the Swallow Bird Nest farm is deficient, the quality of the Swallow Bird Nest produced is equally low?
The building materials and temperature of the Swallow Bird Nest farm
Swallow Bird Nests like a cool, airy environment. Hence, the building materials used must have good heat insulation. The most suitable temperature lies between 26-29°C which is similar to the temperature of the Swallow Bird Nest cave.
The design of the Swallow Bird Nest farm
Before designing a Swallow Bird Nest farm, the flight-path of the Swallow Bird Nest has to be taken into consideration. A large-scale flying space is conducive for population growth of the Swallow Bird Nests.
If the design of the flight-path is not suitable for Swallow Bird Nest habits, they may hit obstructions unintentionally and die. Therefore, the internal layout design of the Swallow Bird Nest farm requires high accuracy of calculation and careful planning of the flight-path.
The audio equipment of the Swallow Bird Nest farm
Playing appropriate Swallow Bird Nest calls is the basic technical criteria to attract Swallow Bird Nests into theSwallow Bird Nest farm. Identifying Swallow Bird Nests chirping is a specialized knowledge.
Generally, the chirping of the Swallow Bird Nest is high-pitched. When the Swallow Bird Nest has yet to learn to fly, its chirping is gentle; the mature Swallow Bird Nest’s chirping is clear and sharp, while the chirping sound prior to mating goes from medium to high pitch. We have engaged specialists to install speakers and audio systems around our Swallow Bird Nest farms to play various Swallow Bird Nest vocalizations continuously in order to attract Swallow Bird Nests to breed their next generation there.