biostudies-literatureWu WJVincent &amp;amp; Lily Woo FoundationNational Natural Sciences Foundation in ChinaKey-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong ProvinceMajor scientific and technological innovation projects of Shandong ProvinceScience and Technology Project of ShenzhenUGC Research Matching Grant SchemeHealth Medical Research FundHKSAR Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF)General Research FundHong Kong Baptist UniversityNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaScience and technology projects of traditional Chinese medicine of Shandong Province2945https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9104280biostudies-literatureUnknown27(9)Edible bird's nest (EBN) is an expensive health food. There are many adulterants in the market. It remains challenging to discriminate EBN from its adulterants due to a lack of high-specificity markers. Besides, the current markers are confined to soluble fraction of EBN. Here, both soluble and insoluble fractions were analyzed by LC-QTOF-MS/MS. A total of 26 high-specificity peptides that were specific to EBN were selected as qualitative authentication markers. Among them, 10 markers can discriminate EBN from common adulterants, 13 markers discriminate white EBN from grass EBN/common adulterants, and 3 markers discriminate grass EBN from white EBN/common adulterants. Three of them, which showed high signal abundance (Peak area ≥ 10⁶) and satisfactory linearity (<i>R</i>² ≥ 0.995) with EBN references, were selected as the assay marker; and their peptide sequences were confidently identified by searching database/de novo sequencing. Based on these markers, a qualitative and quantitative analytical method was successfully developed and well-validated in terms of linearity, precision, repeatability, and accuracy. The method was subsequently applied to detect EBN products on the market. The results indicated that more than half of EBN products were not consistent with what the merchants claimed.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Edible Bird's Nest Based on Peptide Markers by LC-QTOF-MS/MS.PMC910428011122531121006151210081822100014tscy2019JZZY020907JCYJ201605311938128672020B111111000717182681ITS/311/09MPCF-002-2021-221415052181473341tscy2020Z52Fung HYLi LFWong TLBao WRHuo CYCheng HYLiu MWu WJHan QBKong HYZhang QWfalseQualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Edible Bird's Nest Based on Peptide Markers by LC-QTOF-MS/MS.Edible bird's nest (EBN) is an expensive health food. There are many adulterants in the market. It remains challenging to discriminate EBN from its adulterants due to a lack of high-specificity markers. Besides, the current markers are confined to soluble fraction of EBN. Here, both soluble and insoluble fractions were analyzed by LC-QTOF-MS/MS. A total of 26 high-specificity peptides that were specific to EBN were selected as qualitative authentication markers. Among them, 10 markers can discriminate EBN from common adulterants, 13 markers discriminate white EBN from grass EBN/common adulterants, and 3 markers discriminate grass EBN from white EBN/common adulterants. Three of them, which showed high signal abundance (Peak area ≥ 10⁶) and satisfactory linearity (<i>R</i>² ≥ 0.995) with EBN references, were selected as the assay marker; and their peptide sequences were confidently identified by searching database/de novo sequencing. Based on these markers, a qualitative and quantitative analytical method was successfully developed and well-validated in terms of linearity, precision, repeatability, and accuracy. The method was subsequently applied to detect EBN products on the market. The results indicated that more than half of EBN products were not consistent with what the merchants claimed.2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 May2026-06-21T03:17:34.757Z2025-02-19T00:55:54.846ZS-EPMC91042803556629610.3390/molecules27092945