Determination Of Three Components Containing Sulfur In Edible Bird’s Nest

Background Swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae) are insectivorous birds inhabitingmainly limestone caves and man-made house (belonging to artificial culture). Theedible bird’s nest is made from the saliva secreted by the swiftlet’s two sublingualglands during nesting and breeding season. The swiftlets are widespread in the IndianOcean, South and South East Asia, North Australia and the Pacific Islands. They arepredominately discovered in Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand,Vietnam, Philippines and China etc. with Indonesia as the biggest and Malaysia beingthe second biggest resource. The edible bird’s nest contains abundant sulfur. However,seldom components containing sulfur in the nest has been discovered and morecomponents containing sulfur need to be discovered.Taurine is a kind of sulfur-containing amino acid, which distribute in animalinterstitial fluid and intracellular fluid and the taurine content is especially higher inbile, blood, brain, viscus, muscles, breast milk and in fish and shellfish. Taurine canprotect human body from cardiovascular disease, improve the metabolism of proteins,amino acids, and lipids and boost the liver function. It can improve the developmentof brain and intelligence. It also can improve eyesight.Thiamine predominantly distributes in meat, grain, beans, nut, and yolk etc. andthe content is higher in pork and grain embryo. Thiamine can improve growth, helpdigest food, fight neuropathy, maintain the nerve tissue, and improve immune system.Biotin also belongs to vitamin B complex which contains sulfur. It is watersoluble and is also called vitamin H, vitamin B7and coenzyme R. It exists mainly inanimals and plants and the content is high in liver, kidney, yeast and cow’s milk.Biotin is the important factor for the organisms to fix carbon dioxide. A kind ofantibiotin in raw egg whites can combine with biotin and influence the biotinabsorbance. This will lead to biotin deficiency in human body. Biological functions ofbiotin includes: involvement in the synthesis and metabolism of lipids, carbohydratesand proteins, improvement of hair growth and preventing of alopecia, relief of musclepain and eczema and dermatitis symptoms. Objective The thesis aimed to develop a series of simple, rapid and efficientextraction, separation and analytical methods for research of taurine, vitamin B1andbiotin in the edible bird’s nest. The methods used were high performance thin layerchromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. The methods were fast,feasible, repeatable, and accurate.Methods Taurine: The powder of the edible bird’s nest was extracted by waterwith sonication. Absolute ethanol was added into the extract with the ratio of3:7. Thefluid was let stand for a while and the supernatant was collected with centrifugation.The supernatant was condensed using rotate evaporator to obtain the sample. Thesample was spotted onto the high performance thin layer plate, and developed withthe developing solvent. The plate would then be dyed with ninhydrin and analyzedwith TLC scanner.Vitamin B1: The edible bird’s nest powder was hydrolyzed with hydrochloricacid solution. The hydrolysate was collected after it cooled and it was diluted withsodium acetate solution and hydrolyzed with amylase. Potassium chloride, oxidantand isopropanol were added into the liquid and the mixture was shaked for1min. Letit sit and the liquid would layer. The supernatant was filtered and analyzed with highperformance liquid chromatography.Biotin: The edible bird’s nest powder was put into DMF, and was extracted bywater bath. The extract was then condensed with rotate evaporator and then spottedonto high performance thin layer plate and developed with developing solvent. Theplate was then analyzed with TLC scanner.Results: After the HPTLC analysis of the extrated sample of taurine, the spottingof the extract and standard solution is0.62±0.02of Rf value. Intra and interdayvariation studies gave0.88%-0.78%and0.75%-1.17%for the different concentrationand time. Average recovery of99.68%was recorded. Total content of taurine inedible bird’s nest was12.62μg/g. After the HPLC analysis of the extrated sample ofVitamin B1, the peak of the extract and standard solution is8.5min. After the HPTLCanalysis of the extrated sample of biotin, the spotting of the extract and standardsolution is0.47±0.02of Rf value. Intra and interday variation studies gave0.68%-1.02%and0.75%-1.12%for the different concentration and time. Averagerecovery of99.12%was recorded. Total content of taurine in edible bird’s nest was30.3μg/g.Conclusion: The experiments showed that edible bird’s nest contains taurine, vitamin B1and biotin. The proposed analytical methods are precise, specific, accurateand stable. This method may be applied in routine analysis of taurine in edible bird’snest and it may be a useful method to determine adulteration. It also filled out theblank that vitamin B complex has never been determined in the edible bird’s nest andprovided a new qualitation and quantitation of staining method for biotin.