Medicinals
yì yǐ rén / 薏苡仁 / 薏苡仁 / coix [seed];
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
Origin: Plant
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.
Warning:
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.