A Study on Contamination of Nitrite in Edible Bird 's Nest (Swiftlets)

Edible bird’s nest (EBN) derived from the hardened saliva of swallows and considered as high-end health food with organic nutrients. Excessive of nitrite were found in EBN imported from Malaysia to China in past few years and still an issue till today. Therefore the purpose of this study is to inves...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maizatul Farhain, Ismail, Nurul ‘Azyyati, Sabri, Saiful Nizam, Tajuddin
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Language:English
English
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/24153/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/24153/1/A%20Study%20on%20Contamination%20of%20Nitrite-poster.pdf
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/24153/2/A%20Study%20on%20Contamination%20of%20Nitrite.pdf
Description
Summary:Edible bird’s nest (EBN) derived from the hardened saliva of swallows and considered as high-end health food with organic nutrients. Excessive of nitrite were found in EBN imported from Malaysia to China in past few years and still an issue till today. Therefore the purpose of this study is to investigate the source of EBN contamination. EBNs were collected in Aspa Cottage, Kuantan and divided into two treatment (a) treated EBN (tEBN), which exposed to bird soil; (b) untreated EBN (uEBN). The nitrite (NO2) and nitrate (NO3) level were analyzed using ion chromatography for 14 days. Result showed the level of NO2 and NO3 level for treated EBN reported significantly more than untreated EBN. The source of NO2 and NO3 could have been derived mainly from the bird soil. It is suspected also the color of EBN change from yellowish and brownish simultaneously as levels of NO2 and NO3 of EBN increased. Thus, the bird soil could be the source of the NO2 contamination in EBN.