Recent advances in edible bird’s nests and edible bird’s nest hydrolysates

Abstract

Edible bird’s nest is built by swiftlet during breeding using salivary gland secretions, which have rich nutritional value, such as anti-aging, immunomodulatory, and antioxidant activity. As a result, the global demand for edible bird’s nests has increased significantly. Swiftlet farmers, consumers, traders, and authorities are increasingly concerned about obtaining safe and high-quality edible bird’s nests. On the other hand, subject to the limitations of the number of swiftlet populations and the ecological environment, exploring new food processing technologies to improve the utilization efficiency of edible bird’s nest nutrition has also become the research frontier. Therefore, this study introduced the origin and classification of edible bird’s nests in detail, presented the current situation of the edible bird’s nest industry and the corresponding review measures of various countries, reviewed the efficacies of edible bird’s nest, and introduced the new form of edible bird’s nest utilization: edible bird’s nest hydrolysates and their efficacies.