Saccharides and Amino Acids of the Mucoid in an Edible Bird's Nest

Abstract

Chemical composition of the Enso mucoid of Shokuyo-Anatsubame(Collocalia fuciphaga)were investigated, in particular saccharides and amino acids. (1) It contained moisture 14.3, saccharides 27.5, N9.3, ash 4.8, Ca 0.693, P 0.004 and S 0.70%. (2) A fraction(F-Ia)1.9g was obtained from 10g of the material by extraction with boiling-water and fractionation with gel filtration. Its molecular weight was estimated to be 10000O-500000. The ratio of the content of saccharides (reducing saccharides)and that of proteins was 1:2.4 in F-Ia. (3) PPC revealed that the saccharide components of the fraction(F)consisted of galactose, mannose and fucose; the composition of which analyzed by GLC was 84.7, 10.5 and 4.8%, respectively. (4)Amino acid analysis showed that the fraction(F-Ia)conntained aspartic acid 11.7, serine 10.7, valine 10.2 and threonine 10.1%.