J Chromatogr Sci. 2000 Jan; 38(1): 27-32.

Determination of edible bird's nest and its products by gas chromatography.

Yu-Qin Y, Liang X, Hua W, Hui-Xing Z, Xin-Fang Z, Bu-Sen L.

Shanghai Food Industry Research Institute, China.

A specific gas chromatographic (GC) detection method for edible bird's nest (EBN) based on identifying the composition of the oligosaccharide chain combined with glycoprotein in EBN is developed. Five monoses (D-mannitose, D-galactose, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, and N-acetyl neuraminate) that constitute the oligosaccharide chain are detected using GC and GC-mass spectrometry techniques; their characteristic GC spectrum can reliably be regarded as EBN's fingerprint. The peak-area ratios in GC spectrum of those five monoses are found to be fixed; therefore, the GC technique developed in this work can conveniently be used to determine various raw EBNs and their products both qualitatively and quantitatively, distinguishing between fake and genuine EBN rapidly.