Gaoliang Job’s Tears

Gaoliang Job’s Tears

Gaoliang Job’s Tears is a product with geographical indication status.

　　Job’s Tears, commonly known as “six grains,” is also called bodhi seed. The cultivation of Job’s Tears has a long history in Shizong County, where it is one of the county’s important cash crops. According to the Shizong County Annals and the Shizong County Agricultural Annals: “After 1949, the main cash crops in Shizong County included flue-cured tobacco, local tobacco, rapeseed, sugarcane, ginger, peanuts, sesame, sunflower seeds, Job’s Tears, and a small amount of –”. The cultivation of Job’s Tears in Shizong has reached a certain production scale, making it one of the crops that enhance agricultural efficiency and increase farmers’ income. Gaoliang Job’s Tears is a common and frequently consumed food. It is mildly sweet and cool in nature, with good color and appearance, rich nutrition, and can be both eaten and used medicinally. It is mainly sold to provinces, municipalities (regions) such as Guangdong, as well as abroad. With broad market prospects, rising prices year by year, and continuously expanding planting area and yield, its proportion in the local total economic income is growing annually. In 2011, the Shizong County People's Government issued the “Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry During the 12th Five-Year Plan Period,” which proposed vigorously developing the county’s traditional Chinese medicine industry and further enhancing emerging pillar industries. It called for expanding the planting area of Job’s Tears to meet domestic and international market demand, increase farmers’ income, strengthen pillar industries, and extend the industrial chain.

　　Geographical Scope

　　Gaoliang Job’s Tears is produced in Gaoliang Township and Wulong Township of Shizong County, Yunnan Province. The production area covers 11 administrative villages in Gaoliang Township: Sheli, Longga, Nafei, Yuxia, Kebai, Bianliao, Naxia, Tuange, Gelo, Wode, and Balin; and 7 administrative villages in Wulong Township: Goujie, Luke, Pingzhai, Fagang, Huagui, Niwei, and Nanyan. The geographical coordinates are between 103°08′–103°34′ east longitude and 24°21′–24°39′ north latitude, stretching 28 km from east to west and 41.85 km from north to south. The total planting area is 3,300 hectares, with an annual output of 13,125 tons.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　(1) External Sensory Characteristics: The plant stands 1.5–1.9 m tall with approximately 10–11 nodes. The leaf sheath is smooth, and the internodes gradually shorten from bottom to top; the ligule is hard, about 0.6–0.7 mm long; the leaves are linear-lanceolate, up to 30 cm long and 1.5–3 cm wide. When the fruit matures, the husk is hard with an enamel-like texture, oval or ovoid-spherical, enclosing the caryopsis; the caryopsis is about 4–5 mm long, and the seed kernel is broadly ovate or oblong, 4–8 mm long and 3–6 mm wide. The surface is milky white, smooth, occasionally with remnants of yellowish-brown seed coat. One end is bluntly rounded, the other is broader and slightly concave, with pale brown dot-like hilum. The back is convex, and the ventral side has one broad and deep longitudinal groove. The quality is firm, the surface milky white and smooth, with a mildly sweet taste. (2) Internal Quality Indicators: Gaoliang Job’s Tears have good appearance, superior internal quality, and high nutritional value. They can be eaten or used medicinally. Nutritional components include total starch ≥50.15%, protein ≥10.1%, crude fiber ≥0.5%, vitamin C ≥16 mg/100g. (3) Safety Requirements: The production environment of Gaoliang Job’s Tears complies with NY 5332-2006 Technical Specifications for the Growing Environment of Non-polluted Field Crops; product quality meets the NY 5305-2006 Quality Standard for Non-polluted Small Grains; and the production process control follows NY/T 5117-2005 Technical Regulations for the Production of Non-polluted Rice.