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COMMON NAME: Job's Tears
LATIN NAME: Coix Lacryma-Jobi
ORIGIN: South-East Asia
HABITAT: Many species of Job's Tears grow under the natural conditions of the tropics and subtropics in South-East Asia. The plant is cultivated in the Philippines, in the countries of North America.
In the wild, it grows along the banks of rivers, along with the herbs of marshy meadows.
In the countries of South-East Asia, in the mountain regions Job's Tears is grown as a food plant, since there is a low yield of other cereals. Coix Lacryma-Jobi is grown as an ornamental cereal.
BOTANICAL INFORMATION: Job's Tears (lat. Coix Lacryma-Jobi) is a small genus of tropical herbaceous plants. Job's Tears belongs to the Gramineae family.
Coix genus is represented by perennial or annual plants, growing mainly in the subtropical and tropical strip. They have leafy dense up-stream stems up to 60 cm in height. The leaves are long, light green in color, resemble cane or corn leaves. Inflorescences are axillary, complex, racemose, formed from the leaf angle of the upper leaves.
Job's Tears is a monoecious plant. Its inflorescences carry stamen and pistil spikelets at the end of long stalks. Flowering of the herb is observed in August-September. The fruit of Job's Tears is up to 1.5 cm in diameter, ovoid or spherical, shiny on top, very dense, resembles a stone, pearl grayish or yellowish-white in color, when it ripens, it becomes blue or brown.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION:
Coix Lacryma-Jobi has a rich vitamin and mineral composition. It contains carbohydrates, amino acids (glutamic acid), fatty unsaturated acids (oleic and linoleic) and saturated - palmitic, stearic acid, lipids, cuaxenolide, cuaxol, sitosterol. Among vitamins, a high content of B1, A , E, B2, C, phosphorus, calcium, iron, potassium, manganese. The plant has a high nutritional value. It contains fats - 2.7 g, proteins - 14.8 g, carbohydrates - 67.0 g, plant fibers - about 4.0 g.
HISTORY:
Job's Tears has many synonymous names, in particular “plant pearls”, “the Virgin Mary tears”, which is explained by the similarity of the shape of the fruit to beads, tears.
The name Job’s Tears is somewhat biblical. Coix Lacryma-Jobi plant received its name in honor of Job the Long-suffering, from the book of Job in the Bible.
Coix grains are notable for the fact that they do not lose their useful properties during processing and are easily digested. They are used to make soups and cereals.
*This article is for informational purposes only. We suggest consulting with a physician before using these or any other herbal supplements.
