Proteins: Neglected active ingredients in edible bird’s nest

Chinese Herbal Medicines · 4 authors, 2 centres

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TL;DR

This narrative review summarizes proteomic studies to identify proteins in edible bird's nest (EBN) and speculates on their potential bioactivities based on their known properties. The central result is the correlation of identified proteins with the purported health benefits of EBN, such as immune regulation.

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This narrative review synthesizes existing proteomic literature to catalog proteins identified in edible bird's nest (EBN), a swiftlet saliva product. The review details the sources, structures, and potential bioactivities of frequently identified proteins, including acidic mammalian chitinase, lysyl oxidase homolog 3, and mucin-5AC. It speculates that the immune regulation, anti-aging, and gastroprotective properties attributed to EBN may be linked to the functions of these proteins, such as antimicrobial activity and maintenance of tissue integrity. The authors explicitly state that it is unknown whether these proteins retain their bioactivities after human digestion and absorption, highlighting a key limitation. The review concludes that further pharmacological experiments are needed to confirm these associations and explore potential benefits, as the protein composition of EBN can vary.

STUDY TYPE

narrative_review

SPECIALTY

nutrition

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AI pipeline

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100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10394320

Proteins: Neglected active ingredients in edible bird’s nest

Chinese Herbal Medicines

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ABSTRACT

Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is a kind of natural invigorant with a long history of consumption in Asia, especially in China. EBN is formed by mixing the saliva of swiftlets ( Aerodramus ) with feathers and other components during the breeding season. Proteins are the most important nutrient in EBN. By studying proteins in EBN, we can not only elucidate their components at the molecular level, but also study their bioactivities. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the proteins in EBN. Previous research on the proteins in EBN was preliminary and cursory, and no one has summarized and analyzed the proteins in EBN and correlated the bioactivities of these proteins with the biological functions of EBN. This article focused on the proteins in EBN, listed the proteins identified in different proteomic studies, and introduced the sources, structures and bioactivities of the most frequently identified proteins, including acidic mammalian chitinase, lysyl oxidase homolog 3, mucin-5AC, ovoinhibitor, nucleobindin-2, calcium-binding protein (MW: 4.5 × 10 4 ) and glucose-regulated protein (MW: 7.8 × 10 4 ). The properties of these proteins are closely related to the bioactivities of EBN. Therefore, this article can provide inspiration for further research on the efficacy of EBN.

CITATION EXPORT

Man Yuan, Xiaoxian Lin, Dongliang Wang et al.. Proteins: Neglected active ingredients in edible bird’s nest. Chinese Herbal Medicines. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chmed.2023.02.004

AUTHORS

4 · 2 CENTRES

Man Yuan, Xiaoxian Lin, Dongliang Wang, Jianye Dai

aHebei Edible Bird's Nest Fresh Stew Technology Innovation Center, Langfang 065700, China
bSchool of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China