Yi Yi Ren
StarCoix lacryma-jobi
Synonyms: Sphaerium lacryma, Coix ovata, Coix pendula, Lithagrostis lacryma-jobi, Coix lacryma
Traditionally used for
- Cough & breathing
- Urinary & fluids
- Pain & joints
- Energy & fatigue
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Bleeding disorders
- Allergy risk
☯ TCM Properties
Strengthens the Spleen and resolves Dampness; Expels Wind-Dampness and relieves pain; Clears Heat and expels pus; Clears Damp-Heat
Traditional Chinese Uses
Yi Yi Ren (coix seed, Job's tears) is a cool, mild herb that drains Dampness and strengthens the Spleen while also clearing Heat and expelling pus. It is used for urinary difficulty, edema, and loose stools from Spleen deficiency with Dampness; for joint pain, heaviness, and stiffness from Damp-Bi; and for Lung and intestinal abscesses involving pus formation from Heat. As a grain that can be eaten as porridge, it is one of the most gentle and food-compatible medicinal herbs in the TCM materia medica.
Western Herbalism Properties
Used In Formulas (4)
Relationships
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Gallery
Botanical Description
Coix lacryma-jobi is a tall, stout, annual or perennial grass growing 1-2 m tall. Stems are erect, hollow, and branched. Leaves are broadly lance-shaped, 15-40 cm long and 1.5-3.5 cm wide. The plant is monoecious: male flower spikes emerge from the top of leaf sheaths, while the female florets are enclosed in hard, bead-like involucres (the pseudo-grain, Job tears). The mature involucres are hard, shiny, grey-white to blue-grey, 7-12 mm long. The actual seed (Yi Yi Ren) is white, oval, and starchy inside the hard involucre.
Moist tropical and subtropical habitats including stream banks, rice paddies, forest margins, and disturbed areas; native to Southeast Asia, widely cultivated and naturalized throughout tropical and subtropical regions.
Coix lacryma-jobi is widely cultivated throughout Asia as a food and medicinal crop and is naturalized in many regions. No conservation concerns.
Active Constituents
Coix seed oil (triglyceride fraction)
Fixed oil (mixed triglycerides)Concentration: roughly 2-7% of the seed
The fixed oil is the fraction from which the Chinese injectable anti-tumour product Kanglaite is made; it is composed principally of triglycerides of palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acids. Almost all the modern oncology evidence for this herb concerns this oil given intravenously as a lipid emulsion, not the seed eaten or decocted.
Coixenolide
Diester of fatty acids (glyceride-type ester)The named marker constituent of coix seed oil and the compound conventionally credited with its antitumour activity. It is a minor component of the oil, and the attribution of Kanglaite's activity to coixenolide specifically is a traditional claim in the Chinese literature rather than a settled pharmacological finding.
Coixol (6-methoxybenzoxazolin-2(3H)-one, MBOA)
BenzoxazinoidA characteristic non-lipid constituent of the seed, reported to be sedative, antipyretic and skeletal-muscle relaxant in animal work. It is the constituent usually invoked for the classical use of Yi Yi Ren in Wind-Damp painful obstruction.
Starch
PolysaccharideConcentration: roughly 50-79% of the seed
Coix seed is a cereal grain, and the bulk of it is starch. This is why the drug is food-grade and given in large doses (commonly 9-30 g, sometimes more) compared with most of the materia medica.
Coix seed protein (coixin prolamins)
Storage proteinConcentration: roughly 16-19% of the seed
The prolamin storage proteins of the grain. Relevant mainly as a reminder that this is a nutritionally significant food, and as the reason cereal-grain sensitivities are the practical allergy concern with this drug.
Coix polysaccharides (coixans)
PolysaccharideWater-soluble polysaccharides from the seed with reported hypoglycaemic activity in animal models and immunomodulating activity in vitro. These are the fraction that would be extracted into a decoction, in contrast to the oil-soluble constituents used in the injection.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Use during pregnancy, and concurrent uterotonic drugs (oxytocin, misoprostol, ergometrine)
This caution is genuine and worth stating rather than assuming away because the drug is a food. Ben Cao Jing Shu records Yi Yi Ren as prohibited in pregnancy, and the review literature reports that coix seed oil excites uterine smooth muscle in animal preparations and that aqueous extract shows some embryotoxicity in rodents. The animal evidence is secondary-source and not strong, and eating Job's tears as a food is not the same exposure as a medicinal dose or the oil; but the classical prohibition is consistent across texts and there is no human safety data to set against it.
Clinical note: Avoid medicinal doses, and particularly the oil or the injection, in pregnancy. Incidental dietary quantities of the cooked grain are a different matter, but do not prescribe Yi Yi Ren as a herb to a pregnant patient without a specific reason.
Insulin, sulfonylureas and other antidiabetic drugs
Coix polysaccharides lower blood glucose in animal models. No human interaction has been reported, and the effect size in animals is modest, so this is a monitoring point rather than a contraindication.
Clinical note: If a diabetic patient starts large or prolonged doses, ask them to monitor glucose for the first weeks.
Platinum-based and fluorouracil-based chemotherapy (when coix seed oil injection, Kanglaite, is used)
Kanglaite is the coix seed oil formulated as an intravenous lipid emulsion, licensed in China since 1995, and the published meta-analyses combine it deliberately with cytotoxic chemotherapy. The relevant hazards belong to the emulsion: hypersensitivity and infusion reactions, gastrointestinal upset, and the standard lipid-emulsion cautions in severe hyperlipidaemia, disorders of fat metabolism and bleeding disorders, since fat emulsions can prolong bleeding time and inhibit platelet aggregation. None of this transfers to the decocted seed.
Clinical note: Do not extrapolate the oncology trial evidence to the oral herb, and do not describe oral Yi Yi Ren as having anti-tumour evidence on the strength of Kanglaite studies. The injection is an oncology product administered in hospital.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 9–30 g | daily | — | adult | 中国药典 2020年版 一部 【薏苡仁】【用法与用量】9～30g。 【注意】孕妇慎用。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, Vol. I. |
Dui Yao — Herb Pairs
The classical two-herb combinations this herb appears in, each with an action neither herb has alone.
Together they clear heat, drain damp, expel pus and disperse abscess, especially in the intestines.
Classic indication: intestinal abscess after pus has formed.
Core pair of a classical formula — Yi Yi Fu Zi Bai Jiang San, Jin Gui Yao Lue (Zhang Zhongjing)
Leaching dampness and easing the sinews combined with warming yang and dispelling cold, which relieves cold-damp obstruction and pain.
Chest bi with cold-damp causing intermittent severe pain. Aconite is toxic; use processed root only.
Core pair of a classical formula — Yi Yi Fu Zi San, Jin Gui Yao Lue (Zhang Zhongjing)
Evidence Tier
Strong evidence · 2 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
1
0 verified · 1 unverified
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
0
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Kanglaite injection plus platinum-based chemotherapy for stage III/IV non-small cell lung cancer: A meta-analysis of 27 RCTs
Pooled 27 randomised trials of Kanglaite injection, the coix seed oil emulsion, added to platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Reported improved objective response and quality of life and reduced chemotherapy toxicity compared with chemotherapy alone. The included trials are almost all Chinese, mostly small and at risk of bias, so the result is best read as supportive rather than definitive; and it concerns the intravenous oil, not the herb as decocted.
The effect of a coix seed oil injection on cancer pain relief
Patients with cancer pain received a coix seed oil injection for two weeks against a 0.9% saline control, with pain scored on a numeric rating scale and quality of life on the EORTC QLQ-C30. The treatment group had better pain control and better quality-of-life scores, and fewer adverse reactions such as constipation and nausea. Single-centre, small, and again about the injectable oil rather than the oral herb.
Historical Texts
Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing
Han dynastyJin Gui Yao Lue
Han dynastyBen Cao Jing Shu
Ming dynastyReferences
- Devaraj RD, Jeepipalli SPK, Xu B. Phytochemistry and health promoting effects of Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi) - A critical review . Food Bioscience (2020) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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