nutritional ingredient
carbohydrate
The six nutrients in Coix seed are complete. According to the determination, carbohydrate is the main energy-supplying substance in Coix lachryma-jobi seed, and its content is about 65%, second only to cereal crops such as rice, wheat and corn. Among them, starch is the main component, with uniform particle size and regular shape, mostly oval or truncated oval. The crystal structure of starch granules belongs to one kind, which is not easy to gelatinize, has low transparency and poor thermal stability, but the cold paste has strong stability and is easy to be digested by human body, which can reduce the burden on the stomach.
protein
The content of protein is about 65438 07%, which exists between starch grains in endosperm cells. Among them, 20% of protein can be divided into three categories, namely albumin, glutenin, gliadin and the rest protein. The content of protein in Coix seed is higher than that in rice flour, which has important nutritional value and health care function. 18 amino acids are relatively complete, among which essential amino acids account for about 4.99%. Glutamate in seed kernel is a characteristic amino acid with delicate flavor. Glutamate is an important amino acid in biochemical metabolism of brain tissue, so Coix seed protein belongs to high-quality protein [4].
fat
The fat content is about 5%, nearly 30 times higher than that of rice, mainly neutral fat (triacylglycerol >; 90%, diglyceride is about 5%), there are two oil-body protein subunits (H- oil protein, L- oil protein) and one oil-body calcium protein. The content of unsaturated fatty acids in coix seed is high, such as oleic acid and linoleic acid, which account for 5 1.6% and 32.2% of the total fatty acids respectively. These unsaturated acids can relieve excessive cholesterol in blood, enhance cell membrane permeability, prevent myocardial tissue aging and prevent arteriosclerosis [4].
microelement
In addition to the three basic energy substances, Coix lachryma-jobi seed also contains many trace elements necessary for human body, such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and zinc. Among them, the content of calcium and magnesium is high. Calcium can prevent and treat cramps and osteoporosis. Zinc can activate superoxide dismutase (SOD) in human body, so it can remove lipid peroxide which is easy to cause human aging. Iron and magnesium are essential substances for basic biochemical reactions of various cells in the body, and the content of magnesium is 2-3 times higher than that of rice. There are few kinds of vitamins in coix seed, mainly B vitamins, and a small amount of VE, which have the beauty effect of smoothing skin, reducing wrinkles and eliminating spots. VB 1 can also treat beriberi and relieve skin inflammation [4].
effective constituent
polysaccharide
According to the research, Coix seed polysaccharide can reduce the blood sugar of diabetic mice induced by alloxan, that is, Coix seed has hypoglycemic activity. According to the existing research, its principle may be to inhibit the decomposition of liver glycogen, glycolysis of muscle glycogen and gluconeogenesis. Coix seed polysaccharide has immune excitation effect, which can significantly increase the phagocytosis percentage and phagocytosis index of peritoneal macrophages in immunocompromised mice, promote the formation of hemolysin and hemolytic plaque, and promote lymphocyte transformation. Coix seed polysaccharide can also scavenge free radicals such as OH and O2- in the body and play an antioxidant role [4].
Fatty acids and their esters
It has long been recognized that coix seed oil has anti-tumor activity, especially Kanglaite injection made of coix seed oil has become a listed drug for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, colon cancer and other malignant tumors. Through a large number of experimental studies, it is considered that the active components are fatty acids and their esters. Japanese scholar Zhongshan Zongchun fed mice with ascites cancer with acetone extract of coix seed defatted with ether, which prolonged the survival time of mice. Then by GC analysis, it was found that the effective components were acidic fatty acids, namely palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid. Tokuta H et al. also isolated other anti-tumor active components, such as coix seed ester and monosalt. The anticancer mechanism of these active ingredients is generally to inhibit the expression of certain genes, such as cyclooxygenase -2, or to inhibit the activity of certain enzymes, such as fatty acid synthase, so as to achieve the effect of inhibiting cancer [4].
Phenolic compounds
Polyphenols are a kind of compounds composed of one or more aromatic rings and one or more hydroxyl groups. The hydroxyl groups on benzene rings are easy to lose hydrogen electrons, so phenolic compounds can play an antioxidant role as good electron donors. Phenolic compounds in Coix lachryma-jobi can combine with protein and sugar through hydrogen bond, hydrophobic bond interaction or valence bond. According to the degree of combination, it is mainly divided into free type and combined type. Free phenols mainly include free flavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes and lignans. The bound phenols mainly include procyanidins, insoluble phenolic acids and condensed tannins. It is closely combined with cell wall components such as cellulose and lipoprotein. Phenolic compounds from Coix lachryma-jobi seeds were extracted by Folin phenol method, and the main components were p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, vanillin, sulforaphane and rutin. Many studies in cells or in vitro have proved that these substances have strong scavenging ability to free radicals, that is, they can play an antioxidant role and can be used in functional foods or preservatives. In addition, flavonoids in coix seed (such as sacrosanct) can inhibit the release of histamine and play an anti-inflammatory role [4].
The seed of Job's tears.
The seed of Job's tears.
Other active substances
In addition to the above active ingredients, Coix lachryma-jobi also contains a variety of indene compounds, which have antibacterial effects on bacteria, yeast and fungi. Steroids such as feruloyl stigmasterol and feruloyl brassinolide can inhibit the formation of progesterone in the body, thus promoting ovulation. The symptoms of refractory anovulatory patients can be significantly improved after taking Coix seed as the main drug. Ceramide in coix seed can participate in cell function, regulate cell growth and variation, have moisturizing and anti-aging effects on skin, and can be used in skin-activating essence cosmetics to enhance skin anti-aging function, make skin smooth and delicate, and obviously reduce facial wrinkles.