The Bhut Jolokia chillie (Capsicum frutescens) from India has been named the world's hottest pepper by the Guinness Book of World Records, reaching to an astounding 1,001,304 Scoville heat units. Just to put that into perspective, the Jalapeno sits at a meager 10,000 SHU.This particular chillie is native of the North Eastern states of India, Nagaland & Manipur. Such is the hotness of this chilli that it can drive away the ghost, and hence the name Bhut Jolokia.
The discovery of this fact by Paul Bosland, a Regents Professor in horticulture at New Mexico State University, was recognised by the Guinness World Records in a testimony earlier this month saying Bhut Jolokia, native to Assam, was the hottest of all spices.
Before Bhut Jolokia's entry, the world's hottest pepper recorded was the Red Savina chili, which registered at 577,000 SHU, but in April that changed to the Dorset Naga which tested between 876,000 and 970,000 SHU. When it gets that hot, I don't really know that the number really makes much of a difference!
The Scoville scale, developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912, was created to measure the heat level in chillies and is used world-wide today. To give you an idea where some of your favorite peppers sit on the list:
0 - Bell Pepper
100-500 - Pepperoncini
1000-1500 - Poblano
2500-10,000 - Jalapenos and Chipolte
5000-23,000 - Serrano
30,000-50,000 - Cayenne
80,000 & up - Habenero, Scotch Bonnet
There is a blog dedicated to this Bhut Jolokia chillie.
2 comments:
Hi we like your site, come check out our blog on hot peppers at http://bhutjolokia.blogspot.com we think you will find it interesting.
Hi Jason,
I have visited your site. Found it very interesting. I have even placed a link in my post.
Where are you from? Tell me something about yourself.
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