Job's Tears

Coix lacryma-jobi

Physical Characteristics

Coix lacryma-jobi is a PERENNIAL growing to 1 m (3ft 3in) by 0.2 m (0ft 8in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 9. It is in leaf from May to October, in flower from July to October, and the seeds ripen from September to November. The species is monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and is pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.

Distribution

E. Asia - E. India.

Habitats

Cultivated Beds;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Seed Edible Uses: Coffee Tea Seed - cooked. A pleasant mild flavour, it can be used in soups and broths[269].. It can be ground into a flour and used to make bread or used in any of the ways that rice is used[1, 2, 57, 100, 183]. The pounded flour is sometimes mixed with water like barley for barley water[269]. The pounded kernel is also made into a sweet dish by frying and coating with sugar[269]. It is also husked and eaten out of hand like a peanut[269]. The seed contains about 52% starch, 18% protein, 7% fat[114, 174]. It is higher in protein and fat than rice but low in minerals[114]. This is a potentially very useful grain, it has a higher protein to carbohydrate ratio than any other cereal[57], though the hard seedcoat makes extraction of the flour rather difficult. A tea can be made from the parched seeds[46, 61, 105, 183], whilst beers and wines are made from the fermented grain[269]. A coffee is made from the roasted seed[183]. (This report refers to the ssp. ma-yuen)

Medicinal Uses

Anodyne Anthelmintic Antiinflammatory Antipyretic Antirheumatic Antispasmodic Cancer Diuretic Hypoglycaemic Pectoral Refrigerant Sedative Tonic Warts The fruits are anodyne, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, hypoglycaemic, hypotensive, sedative and vermifuge[218, 238]. The fruits are used in folk remedies for abdominal tumours, oesophageal, gastrointestinal, and lung cancers, various tumours, as well as excrescences, warts, and whitlows. This folk reputation is all the more interesting when reading that one of the active constituents of the plant, coixenolide, has antitumor activity[269]. The seed, with the husk removed, is antirheumatic, diuretic, pectoral, refrigerant and tonic[176, 218, 240]. A tea from the boiled seeds is drunk as part of a treatment to cure warts[116, 174]. It is also used in the treatment of lung abscess, lobar pneumonia, appendicitis, rheumatoid arthritis, beriberi, diarrhoea, oedema and difficult urination[147, 176]. The plant has been used in the treatment of cancer[218]. The roots have been used in the treatment of menstrual disorders[240]. A decoction of the root has been used as an anthelmintic[272]. The fruit is harvested when ripe in the autumn and the husks are removed before using fresh, roasted or fermented[238].

Known Hazards

None known