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Job's tears is an essential cereal with rich nutrients and functional chemical compositions. However, systematic knowledge of its starch content is still lacking. This study sought to investigate the resistant starch (RS) properties prepared from Job's tears starch by autoclaving-cooling treatment. RS contents for native and autoclave-cooled Job's tears starches were measured as 8.35%-10.53% and 26.57%-31.65%, respectively. The \"Maltese crosses\" of RS disappeared, and its morphology exhibited irregular sheet structure with layered strips and gully shapes on the surface. Additionally, the XRD pattern of RS presented a combination of B and V types, and disrupted short-range ordered structure. Compared with native starch, the water solubility, swelling power, light transmittance, and water- holding capacity of RS were higher, whereas its hardness, chewiness, resilience, and gumminess were significantly lower. These results will provide insights into the future study of starch in Job's tears and application of RS in the food industry.

Tempura is a dish of battered and deep-fried foods, and wheat flour is typically used; however, barley, buckwheat, and Job’s tears have an antioxidant capacity. This study investigated whether replacing wheat flour with flours from these three crops in tempura affects the antioxidant capacity and deterioration of frying oil. Radical scavenging activity and polyphenol content of tempura were measured by chemiluminescence-based assay and the Folin–Denis method, respectively. The peroxide value, p-anisidin value, acid value, and polar compound of the oil used in frying were measured as indexes of oil deterioration post-frying due to oxidation. Although the frying oil of barley showed higher p-anisidin value than that of wheat, the oil samples’ deterioration level measured in this study was low. The antioxidant capacity and polyphenol content in the three flours samples were higher than those in wheat sample, with buckwheat producing the greatest values, followed by Job’s tears, and then barley. Thus, deep-fried products prepared using the three flours demonstrated superior antioxidant capacity owing to the abundance of antioxidant components. Therefore, tempura can be enjoyed in a healthier manner by using batter prepared using those flours, and substituting wheat flour with the three flours can increase the antioxidant capacity of deep-fried products.

Carrot juice and pumpkin paste were used as ingredients in Job’s tears ice cream. Carrot juice or pumpkin paste added at 50% was equally preferred by 100 consumers compared to the original Job’s tears ice cream. The new types of ice cream were lower in antioxidant capacity and higher in total phenolic content but could still be considered as potential antioxidant products. Purchase intent was significantly increased (p<0.05) if consumers were informed about the nutritional and antioxidant capacity of these products.

The diversity analysis of Job's-tears (Coix lacryma-jobi L.), an ideal healthy food crop, is a prerequisite in breeding programs and germplasm utilization. The aim of this study was to characterize the phenotypic traits of 94 Job's-tears accessions (40 cultivated and 54 wild) collected from different geographic areas in China. Principal component (PC) and genetic diversity analyses were conducted on 12 morphological characters: stem node number, panicle branch number, primer branch nodes, panicles per plant, grain number per plant, plant height, 100-seed weight, total bract surface characteristics, total bract texture, total bract shape, total bract color, and pericarp color. The results showed a high variation among the studied materials. The relationship among traits indicated that some traits could be used for indirect selection to evaluate accessions. Based on PC analysis, the first seven PCs in the experiment can summarize the vast majority of the information about the agronomic traits of the 94 Job's-tears accessions. The accumulative contribution rate accounted for 87.31% of the total variation. Cluster analysis grouped all the accessions into seven clusters, and this revealed that genetic variation was based on variety types, geographic distribution, and morphological characteristics.

Coix lacryma-jobi L. is a traditional medicinal plant in east Asia and is an important crop in Guizhou province, southwest China, where there are elevated levels of soil mercury and arsenic (As). Exposure to multiple potentially toxic elements (PTEs) may affect plant accumulation of metal(loid)s and food safety in regions with high geological metal concentrations. Field experiments were conducted to study the effects of PTEs on metal(loid) accumulation and physiological response of C. lacryma in different plant parts at three pollution levels. Total root length, number of root tips, number of branches, and number of root crosses increased with increasing pollution level, with increases in highly polluted areas of 44.2, 57.0, 79.6, and 97.2%, respectively, compared to lightly polluted areas. Under multi-element stress the activity of C. lacryma antioxidant oxidase showed an increase at low and medium PTE concentrations and inhibition at high concentrations. The As contents were all below the maximum limit of cereal food contaminants in China (GB 2762-2022, As < 0.5 mg kg −1 ). The stems had high Tl bioconcentration factors but the translocation factors from stem to grain were very low, indicating that the stems may be a key plant part restricting Tl transport to the grains. C. lacryma increased root retention and reduced the transport effect, thus reducing metal accumulation in the grains. C. lacryma adapted to PTE stress through root remodeling and enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities.

Plant probacteria as a sustainable microbial resource are crucial to plant, which not only promote plant growth but also increase the stress resistance of plants. In this study, whole-genome sequencing of Zobellella sp. DQSA1 was performed, and Zobellella sp. DQSA1 was applied to Job’s tears seedings under salt-alkali stress. Whole-genome analysis revealed that Zobellella sp. DQSA1 can produce metabolites such as tryptophan, alpha-linolenic acid and other products through metabolism. In response to the action of Zobellella sp. DQSA1, the contents of jasmonic acid (JA) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in the root system increased by 32.5% and 81.4% respectively, whereas the content of abscisic acid (ABA) decreased by 30.0%, and the contents of other endogenous hormones also significantly differed. Additionally, the physiological and biochemical indices related to growth and salinity demonstrated notable differences. Finally, sequencing analysis revealed that 57 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were involved in 16 Gene Ontology (GO) pathways. Furthermore, the correlations between the contents of endogenous hormones and 57 DEGs were analyzed, and JA was found to be the most significantly correlated. These results provide a theoretical basis for further exploration of the functions and mechanisms of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) under salt-alkali stress.

Northern China has been identified as an independent centre of domestication for various types of millet and other plant species, but tracing the earliest evidence for the exploitation of wild cereals and thus the actual domestication process has proven challenging. Evidence from microscopic analyses of stone tools, including use-wear, starch and phytolith analyses, however, show that in the Shizitan region of north China, various plants have been exploited as far back as 28000 years ago, and wild millets have been harvested and processed by the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, 24000 years ago. This is some 18000–14000 years before the earliest evidence for domesticated millet in this region.

North China is regarded as a center of domestication for broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica ssp. italica). The Neolithic Xinglonggou site (ca. 8000–7500 cal. BP) in the Liao River region has revealed the earliest macrobotanical evidence of domesticated millets in Northeast China, but controversy remains as to the importance of the millets in human diet. We employed an interdisciplinary approach involving analyses of starch grains, phytoliths, and usewear patterns to study a range of materials from Xinglonggou, including grinding stones, human dental calculus, and vegetative charcoal. The results demonstrate a broad spectrum of plant exploitation by the first farmers in Northeast China rather than dependence upon singular crops. Furthermore, three types of underground storage organs appear to be major staples, while millets were secondary to another early and important cultivated cereal, Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi L.). Wild grasses and acorns also account for small portions of plants used. This study documents the northernmost and earliest occurrence of Job’s tears in temperate Northeast China, a species which may have originated in the subtropical regions. We argue that Job’s tears may have been one of the earliest domesticates in China along with millets.

The diversity analysis of Job's-tears (Coix lacryma-jobi L.), an ideal healthy food crop, is a prerequisite in breeding programs and germplasm utilization. The aim of this study was to characterize the phenotypic traits of 94 Job's-tears accessions (40 cultivated and 54 wild) collected from different geographic areas in China. Principal component (PC) and genetic diversity analyses were conducted on 12 morphological characters: stem node number, panicle branch number, primer branch nodes, panicles per plant, grain number per plant, plant height, 100-seed weight, total bract surface characteristics, total bract texture, total bract shape, total bract color, and pericarp color. The results showed a high variation among the studied materials. The relationship among traits indicated that some traits could be used for indirect selection to evaluate accessions. Based on PC analysis, the first seven PCs in the experiment can summarize the vast majority of the information about the agronomic traits of the 94 Job's-tears accessions. The accumulative contribution rate accounted for 87.31% of the total variation. Cluster analysis grouped all the accessions into seven clusters, and this revealed that genetic variation was based on variety types, geographic distribution, and morphological characteristics.