As of 2016, a total of 38 research projects have been undertaken, with the involvement of 38 principal researchers and 266 co-researchers from various Malaysian universities, research institutes and government agencies, in collaboration with industry partners, to help solve some of the issues faced by EBN industry. In the early stage, research areas were focused onfundamental works which are important to provide the scientific basis for some of the claims made by producers, assisting in issues raised by ranchers and industry, and to gather new knowledge in swiftlet and EBN. The researchers worked mainly based on the problems faced by the industry. Besides publications in journals, proceedings and books, more than 30 Masters, PhDs and technical experts have been trained under these projects. In addition, several patents have been filed, social innovations and ideas have been shared with the community and industry. A few products are ready to go to the next level for commercialisation. Industry partners are involved in many of these stepsand outputs. Some of the issues faced by the industry have been partially solved and are in the process of refinement. The engagement with the industry will be further strengthened by getting more industry partners to be involved in the relevantprojects specific to problems faced by the industry, for the benefits of EBN industry and nation’s wealth creation.

This paper presents the resultsof an experimental attempt to improve thedrying kinetics for the retention of colourand sialic acid in edible bird’s nest throughheat pump drying. Kinetics of hot air dryingand heat pump drying were studied byperforming various drying trials on ediblebird’s nest. Isothermal drying trials wereconducted in hot air drying and heat pumpdrying at a temperature range of 40 °C-90 °C and 28.6 °C-40.6 °C, respectively.Intermittent drying trials were carried outin heat pump drying with two differentmodes, which are periodic air flow supplyand step-up air temperature. Experimentalresults showed that heat pump drying withlow temperature dehumidified air not onlyenhanced the drying kinetics but alsoproduced a stable final product of ediblebird’s nest. Heat pump-dried edible bird’ssamples retained a high concentration ofsialic acid when an appropriate dryingmode was selected.

A preliminary study of nearinfraredreflectance spectroscopy (NIRS)for the feasibility of analytical monitoring ofamino acids and total protein compositionsin edible bird’s nest (EBN) was conducted.The training (n=134) and validation sets todevelop the equations were built with localunprocessed EBN samples sourced fromdifferent states of Malaysia. The regressionmethod employed was modified partialleast-squares (MPLS). The values ofstandard error for cross validation (SECV)and the coefficient of determination (r2)of the calibrations of these constituentsfor use to predict of amino acids in EBNwere determined, but with a low predictiveability. To find an acceptable accuracyfor each constituent is to increase thenumber of training samples. The findings,however, showed a potential alternativefor the implementation of near-infraredreflectance spectroscopy technology inthis field of analysis.

Edible bird's nest (EBN)is made from the saliva of swiftlet from the Aerodramus species. It is one of the most widely consumed traditional health food by the Chinese community due to its claimed medicinal value. EBN contains glycoproteins with abundance of sialic acid (SA). EBN with higher SA content has a potential to command for higher price. The objective of this study was to determine and compare free SA content of EBN collected from Johor and Kelantan. A total of 23 and 30 of raw and unprocessed EBN samples were obtained from Kelantan and Johor, respectively. SA from EBN samples were analysed using LC-MS/MS. Johor showed higher content of free SA with the value of 135.04 ± 29.60 mg/kg compared to Kelantan which has a value of 95.55 ± 25.6 mg/kg. Highest content of free SA was found in EBN from Pontian district, Johor.

The Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) established a subsidy programme to build low cost swiftlet houses, under the auspices ofthe eKasih programme. This programme is aimed at aiding entrepreneurs in the swiftlet industry to produce good qualitybird’s nests. In 2013, eleven swiftlet houses under eKasih Program in Johor, Perlis and Pahang were chosen randomly to be evaluated after a year of completion. The main factors affecting its functionality, such as temperature, relative humidity and light intensity inside the swiftlet houses were recorded and analysed. The results showed that most of the eKasih swiftlet houses built under this programme did not meet the recommended in house conditions due to several reasons. The houses built in this programme failed to attract the birds into the houses to build nests. Although there were some houses that produced bird’s nests, it was found to be substandard in terms of quality. Thus, this study revealed the importance of various factors needed for the successful establishment of swiftlet houses to produce good quality bird’s nests.

The emergence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) in 2004 draws attention to the safety of rearing edible bird nest swiftlets within the vicinity of human dwellings in urban areas. There is also concern on the safety of the product itself. Convenient sampling of edible bird nest swiftlets (A. fuciphagus and A. maximus) was conducted by the Department of Veterinary Services and Animal Industry from September 2004 until June 2011. A total of 137 samples
were collected from four premises and two natural caves in four locations, namely Tawau, Kunak, Sandakan and Penampang. The samples were collected for Egg Innoculation Tests for H5N1 and Newcastle Disease (ND). All samples yielded negative results for both diseases.