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Latin pharmacognostic name: Coicis Semen

Alternate English names: Job's tears [seed]

Alternate Chinese names: 薏仁 yì rén; 薏珠子 yì zhū zǐ; 六谷子 liù gǔ zǐ; 裕米 yù mǐ; 益米 yì mǐ; 米仁 mǐ rén; 苡仁 yǐ rén; 苡仁米 yǐ rén mǐ; 苡米 yǐ mǐ

Kingdom: Plant

Origin in PRC Pharmacopoeia: Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen (Roman.) Stapf. (PRC Pharmacopoeia)

Origin (other sources): Coix lachryma-jobi L.; Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen (Roman.) Stapf* [= C. ma-yuen Roman.; and C. lachryma-jobi L. var. frumentacea Mak.]

Use: Medicinal and alimentary

Category: Water-disinhibiting dampness-percolating agents / Water-disinhibiting swelling-dispersing agents

Properties: Sweet, bland; slightly cold.

Channel entry: Spleen, stomach, lung, and kidney channels. (some sources also give kidney channel.)

Indications:

• Fortifies the spleen, disinhibits water and percolates dampness: Inhibited urination, water swelling, leg qì (jiǎo qì) (beriberi), and spleen vacuity diarrhea.
• Eliminates impediment: Damp impediment with hypertonicity.
• Clears heat and expels pus: Lung and intestinal welling-abscesses.

Dosage & Method: Oral: 10–30g in decoctions. Use the raw form of yì yǐ rén to clear damp-heat and use the stir-fried form to fortify the spleen and check diarrhea.

Warnings: Yì yǐ rén is not appropriate for patients with insufficiency of fluids.

Product Description: This is a spheroid or ovate seed with a wide flat base, and a dull rounded tip. It is 5–7 mm long and 3–5 mm thick. It is white or yellowish white in color, smooth, sometimes with longitudinal markings. There is a broad deep longitudinal groove, whose surface is brown and rough. At the base is a depression with a dark brown spot. This seed is hard and when broken open, the white farinaceous inside can be seen.

Quality: Unbroken, large, fat, white seeds are the best.

Product Area: Most parts of China, and notably Fújiàn, Héběi, and Liáoníng.

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