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The potential cutaneous benefits of edible bird’s nest

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Abstract

Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is composed of the solidified saliva of swiftlet birds. EBN has been extremely popular in Asian culture for centuries. They are often consumed as a delicacy in the form of bird’s nest soup and are believed to have numerous skin benefits. In light of EBN’s growing popularity and significant cultural importance, we aim provide a comprehensive review of EBN’s potential dermatologic benefits and role in photoaging, anti-inflammation, wound healing, skin barrier enhancement, and skin whitening. While in vitro, in vivo, and preliminary clinical trial results are promising, there is a need for future human clinical research to further validate these findings and establish EBN’s efficacy and safety for dermatologic applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, State University of New York, Downstate Health Sciences University, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Avenue, 8th Floor, Brooklyn, NY, 11203, USA

    Jennifer Wang, Jessica Mineroff & Jared Jagdeo

  2. Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ, USA

    Paras Patel

  3. Dermatology Service, Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Healthcare System-Brooklyn Campus, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Jennifer Wang, Paras Patel, Jessica Mineroff & Jared Jagdeo

Authors
  1. Jennifer Wang
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  2. Paras Patel
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  3. Jessica Mineroff
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  4. Jared Jagdeo
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JW came up with the idea for the article, performed the literature search, and wrote the main manuscript. All authors helped to critically revise the manuscript. JJ supervised the project.

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Correspondence to Jared Jagdeo.

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Wang, J., Patel, P., Mineroff, J. et al. The potential cutaneous benefits of edible bird’s nest. Arch Dermatol Res 316, 91 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-024-02824-5

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