Abstract: Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is the nest of swiftlet and other closely related species of the Aerodramus genus, which mainly inhabit in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Since ancient times, EBN has been regarded as a precious and valuable traditional Chinese medicinal material and food material. In recent years, the consumption of EBN in China is growing annually. Driven by huge profits, economically motivated adulteration has been found in the whole supply chain of EBN. Authentication of EBN has been moving forward with innovations in order to realize the effective supervision of EBN quality. In this article, we illustrate the current status of EBN authentication with respect to adulteration identification, identification of species and geographical origin and traceability. Future research priorities and trends are also discussed. This review is expected to provide useful information for researchers interested in this field.

Key words: edible bird’s nest, authentication, food fraud, adulteration, traceability