Know your Swiftlets

KNOW YOUR SWIFTLETS

Swiftlet Foraging flying white ants.

                        KNOW YOUR SWIFTLETS

The are a few species of swiftlets in the world. Main two are the edible and non edible species.
It is easily recognised from the bird's nest visually. 




The above swiftlets was non edible type from the nest the bird constructed.

   
These swiftlets was from the edible species, visually recognised from the nest build.

       WELCOME TO STAR BIRD NEST

                                        

Made from the saliva of cave-dwelling birds called swiftlets, the nests are dangerous to harvest, laborious to prepare and have, according to traditional Chinese medicine, a long list of health benefits.

Traditionally consumed in soup, edible birds' nests are now being turned into food and drink additives as well as put into cosmetics, say two Chinese researchers who have assessed just what is known about the nutritional and medicinal properties of this expensive, and to Westerners, strange-sounding health food.

Science cannot yet explain the healing powers attributed to the soup, they conclude. Birds' nests "bioactivities and medicinal value are still open to question as there (is) not much scientific research on the medicinal properties," Fucui Ma and Daicheng Liu of Shandong Normal University in China write in a review article to be published in the October issue of the journal Food Research International.  .

Protein is the most abundant constituent of the nests, which contain all of the essential amino acids, the building blocks out of which proteins are made. They also contain six hormones, including testosterone and estradiol, the researchers write.  

The nests also contain carbohydrates, ash and a small quantity of lipids (naturally occurring molecules that include fats). Previous research has indicated that the nests contain substances that can stimulate cell division and growth, enhance tissue growth and regeneration, and that it can inhibit influenza infections.

But not everyone reacts well to them. Birds’ nests are known to cause anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction.