Qualities of dried edible bird’s nest flakes from different drying methods and properties of their beverage

Abstract

Sodium alginate (NaAG) solution (1%) in combination with 0.5% calcium chloride (CaCl₂) solution were used for pretreatment of edible bird’s nest (E-B-N) flakes prior to drying with different methods. Dried E-B-N flakes subjected to freeze-drying (FD-F) or drying in an air-conditioned room (AD-F) (25 ± 2 °C, RH:48-50%) possessed lower total difference in color (ΔE*), compared to those with hot air drying (HD-F) (p < 0.05). The AD-F sample had similar moisture content and a_w to the flakes without treatment (the control) (p < 0.05). Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results of all samples from different drying methods showed similar patterns. When beverages containing E-B-N flakes dried using various methods were prepared and subjected to the sterilization process (121 °C), the control was mostly solubilized or degraded. Nevertheless, AD-F rendered the beverage with higher scores of texture and overall likeness.

Keywords:

• Edible bird’s nest
• Drying methods
• Sterilization process
• Beverage

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Credit authorship contribution statement

Kasidate Chantakun: Methodology, data analysis, Writing-original draft. Soottawat Benjakul: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition and editing of manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Faculty of Agro-Industry, Prince of Songkla University under Agro-industrial practice project scholarship and Prince of Songkla University (Grant No. AGR6302013N) is also acknowledged.