A specific gas chromatographic (GC) detection method for edible bird's nest (EBN) based on identifying the composition of the oligosaccharide chain combined with glycoprotein in EBN is developed. Five monoses (D-mannitose, D-galactose, N-acetyl-Dgalactosamine, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, and N-acetyl neuraminate) that constitute the oligosaccharide chain are detected using GC and GC-mass spectrometry techniques; their characteristic GC spectrum can reliably be regarded as EBN's fingerprint. The

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... area ratios in GC spectrum of those five monoses are found to be fixed; therefore, the GC technique developed in this work can conveniently be used to determine various raw EBNs and their products both qualitatively and quantitatively, distinguishing between fake and genuine EBN rapidly. Experimental Reagents N-Acetyl-D-galactosamine (GalNAc, purity > 98%) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GNAc, purity > 99%) were from Fluka (Bellefonte, PA). N-Acetylneuraminic acid (NANA, purity > 95%) was from Sigma (Bellefonte, PA). D-Mannose (Man) and D-galatose (Gal) (biochemical reagent) were made in Shanghai. n-Nonadecanoic acid was of chromatographic purity. Acetic anhydride, pyridine methanol, sulfuric acid, and barium carbonate were of analytical purity. Abstract