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Origin and Regions of cultivation
Job's tears is native to Southeast Asian countries, namely India, Burma, China, and Malaysia. It was widely cultivated in northeast India as a staple crop. Job's tears was introduced to the subtropical area in India from the east Himalayan belt. The wild varieties have hard-coated seeds. Job's tear was one of the earliest domesticated crops. Domestication makes the seed coat become softer and easier to cook.

In China, the cultivation of Job's tears mainly occurs in Fujian, Jiangsu, Hebei, and Liaoning provinces. The cultivation of Job's tears spreads out to temperate areas in North and Northeast China. The time of cultivation takes 150 days and 125 days respectively.

Health value, processing technology and product use
Nutritional value overview

The seeds of Job's tears are protein-rich and nutrient-dense. High in zinc and calcium.  They contain vitamin B2, vitamin B2, vitamin E, niacin, dietary fiber and zinc. They cover 8 types of amino acids for human consumption. Starch and protein

Job's tears contain high amount of starch (58%). The seeds are used as ingredients to make soup, porridge, flour and pastries. It is common to grind seeds into powder form to make pastries. Two major methods are used to isolate starch: alkaline steeping method and steeping with sodium metabisulfite (Na2S2O5), an antioxidant and antimicrobial agent. Job's tears also contain edible protein (14.8%), which can be extracted through alkaline extraction method and salt extraction method.

Fatty acids

Job's tears contain are extracted to obtain four main fatty acids (oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid) under three extraction methods: solvent processes, supercritical fluid extraction and ultrasonic-assisted extraction. Most fatty acids are unsaturated (84%). These acids show anti-tumor effects.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Job's tears is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. The ancient Chinese medicine book “Ben Cao Gang Mu” (本草綱目). Its main functions are to alleviate diseases related to lung and stomach, such as edema, pulmonary fibrosis, lung abscess and diarrhea. Moreover, Job's tears can alleviate stoke and its symptoms, such as aphasia, by improving the liver and spleen.

Tea

Tea is one of the most common ways of consuming Job's tears. Job's tears and other ingredients, such as jasmine tea, lotus leaves and hawthorn, are boiled together. Some recipes have medical purposes. For example, Job's tears are boiled with red kidney beans, rice and tangerine peel to treat Ascites and liver cirrhosis. Dioscorea and persimmon are cooked with Job's tears to alleviate symptoms like fever, cough and loss of appetite.

Alcohol

Several countries in Asia use adlay to make alcohol. In Northeast India, Job's tears are fermented into beer known as zhu or dhu. In South Korea, rice and Job's tears are used to make a liquor known as Okroju. The first way is direct fermentation followed by distillation, extracting components with high boiling point. The second method is half solid state fermentation. Job's tears and glutinous rice are fermented before adding white sugar to create fermented glutinous wine.

Conventional medicine
Job's tears are used in cancer treatment. They are used as complementary medicine in chemotherapy. As a chemopreventive agent, Job's tears exhibit both blocking and suppressing mechanisms. Modern Chinese medicine Kanglaite (KLT) injection is an example. Job's tears' oil extracts, especially KLT injection, have shown antitumor activity and effects on regulating immune responses. Job's tears contain coixenolide and coixol, which demonstrate anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities, respectively.