New Hottest Pepper

[glider14]

(Oct. 26) - It's hot. Scorching hot. Guinness World Records hot.

Researchers at New Mexico State University have discovered the world’s hottest chili pepper. It's called the Bhut Jolokia, a variety originating in Assam, India.

In tests that yield Scoville heat units (SHUs), the Bhut Jolokia reached 1 million SHUs, almost double the SHUs of former hotshot Red Savina (a type of habanero pepper), which measured a mere 577,000. The result was announced today by the American Society for Horticultural Science.

Chili is spelled "chile" by some, including Paul Bosland, director of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences. Bosland collected seeds of Bhut Jolokia while visiting India in 2001. He grew the plants for three years to produce enough seeds to complete the field tests.

"The name Bhut Jolokia translates as 'ghost chile,'" Bosland explained. "I think it’s because the chile is so hot, you give up the ghost when you eat it!"

The intense heat concentration of Bhut Jolokia could have a significant impact on the food industry as an economical seasoning in packaged foods, he said.

2007-10-27 22:11:16

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/hottes...d/20071027221009990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

nice. cant wait to try one of these babies.
Alex

 

[nepenthes_ak]

OH god I couldnt even begin to imagine. Ill grow some dry some and send them to my Grandmother on my dads side (shes Hispanic loves REALLY spicy food)

 

[vraev]

when I was in india I have tried various kinds of chilli when we used to go for trips with my parents. I haven't been to assam but I do know that north indian chillies have quite a bit of kick to them.

 

[Ozzy]

Wow, I can't wait to get this one in my eyes.

 

[Not a Number]

There was an article on this a few months ago in the LA Times. The Indian Army weapons research was studying this pepper and Bosland in New Mexico had heard about it from a former Indian soldier. I wouldn't consider Bosland the discoverer of this pepper if that is the case.

If it was being studied for weapons research that speaks much for the lethality of this sucker. Sample at your own risk.

 

[Finch]

New?

...

this was discovered in 2000.

In August 2000, Indian scientists reported on a new chile cultivar grown in the hills near the Central Assamese town of Tezpur which they identified as Capsicum frutescens cv. Nagahari. This chile variety has been dubbed Tezpur chili, and is also sometimes errorneously referred to as Indian PC-1. Allegedly, the native name is naga jolokia [নাগা জলকীয়া] “chile of the Nagas” (the Nagas are a people inhabiting the border region between India and Burma, east of Tezpur; the reference might be the fiercy aggressive temper of the Nagas as perceived by the Indiens rather than an introduction of the chile from the Nagas to the Assamese-speaking Indians).

This new chile type is reported much hotter than the Red Savina Habanero: Its heat was measured to incredible 855000 Scoville units, corresponding to 5.7% of capsaicin in the dried material (4.3% Capsaicin and 1.4% Dihydrocapsaicin; remarkably, other capsaicinoids are missing). There are plans to use this plant in the production of weapons (“pepper spray”) for private (anti-mugger defence) and for military (riot control) purposes. It is, however, not stated whether the value cited is typical for the variety, or just a rare exception. (Current Science, 79, 287, 2000; online [PDF])

some more info on the plant

Assam region indeed boasts a superhot chinense chile that was previously unknown to the world. Since the pods have an elongated (yet broad-shouldered) shape deviant from the typical lantern shape, it appears that the original scientists misidentified the botanical species. There are, however, other chinense cultivars with similar pods, like the fatalii or the datil.

Seed material from Assam has been grown by a number of scientists and enthusiasts alike, and the fruits have throughout be proved extremely hot, ranging around one Megascoville. A couple of more names for this chile type have surfaced, like bih jolokia [বিহ জলকীয়া] “poison chile”, bhut jolokia [ভুত জলকীয়া] “ghost chile” or naga morich [নাগা মরিচ], which is just a translation of naga jolokia into Bengali. It is not known to me whether these names are traditional or quickly coined to satisfy the excessive Western demand for this chile. I have also read about a supposed name raja mirchi “chile king”, which appears to be Hindi [perhaps राजा मिरची] and thus can hardly be native to Assam.

 

[rattler]

If it was being studied for weapons research that speaks much for the lethality of this sucker. Sample at your own risk.

lethal? only if your allergic..........its being looked at as a non-lethal weapon to intensify the effects of MACE and similar products.......bear defense sprays and the like........

 

[herenorthere]

Personally, I'd take a habanero with maybe 1% of the heat. I'd love to get more of that unique fruity habanero flavor before incinerating myself. I heard that one of the pepper universities developed one with no capsaicin (for processing, like they did with Jalapenos), but I haven't seen seeds for sale and don't know if I'd buy them.

Since there's some chile interest here, does anyone know the Valero (or Vallero) variety? I used to grow it, ran out of my seed supply and then discovered my source was gone. It's a thin-walled medium hot, medium sized chile that ripens red and always has three lobes at the tip. I've been searching for years and, the couple times I've come across the name, it was definitely a different variety.

 

[Not a Number]

lethal? only if your allergic..........its being looked at as a non-lethal weapon to intensify the effects of MACE and similar products.......bear defense sprays and the like........

"Lethal" was only meant as a metaphor for an experience you might wish you were better off dead. Companies call their hot sauces "*** Kickin'" or "Atomic" etc. - how can a bottle of sauce with no legs kick *** or without radioactive elements be "Atomic"?

Figures of speech are often used with food: "Have you tried Sally's killer brownies?" or "Joe's chili is absolutely deadly." Do you expect Sally's brownies to jump up and attack you with automatic weapons or bodies to be littered around Joe at the local chili cookoff?

Besides if you inhale enough of those "non-lethal" weapons your aveoli can swell with enough fluid from the irritation that you could suffocate/drown - without be allergic.

 

[glider14]

i know its not new to be discovered...just the new hottest. there are sveral things on ebay including seeds and peppers themselves.
Alex

 

[Alexis]

I thought a cultivar developed in Dorset was hotter:

Dorset Naga cultivar

The cultivar Dorset Naga pepper (cultivar status in process) is grown in West Bexington, Dorset, England.[10][11][12] It was developed through simple plant selection by Michael and Joy Michaud.[13] Samples sent to two different U.S. laboratories in early 2006 reported heat ratings of 876,000 and 970,000 Scoville units.[14][15] In 2006, BBC Gardener's World used the services of Warwick Horticulture Research International to test the Scoville score of this cultivar, and obtained a 1.6 million SHU result

 

[schloaty]

Man, I gotta get me some seeds of that sucker!

I love to grow hot peppers, and I've cultivated several habenero varieties. Many of which, oddly, are less hot than the typical orange type.

Now, people here are talking like typical habs aren't all that spicy, just because there's a new champ.

Phooey. YOU eat one. They're pleny hot.

I'm still waiting for my Carribean Red habs, golden habs and fatali peppers to bear fruit this year. Killin' me. I had to dig them up, pot 'em and move them into the green house for the winter because they're just being so SLOW.

What's a guy have to do to get some hot peppers around here?

Two years ago was my best season. I had a 3' diameter orange hab plant that yielded almost 80 peppers. Should have kept THAT one in the GH.

 

[PlantAKiss]

I love hot peppers but there comes a point where its too hot. Like, Bruce, I like the fruity sharpness of the habanero. I don't know if I would even try a pepper like that "new" one. I haven't had a red savina yet either.

And... chile = pepper/plant, chili = soup dish. You can put chiles in your chili to make it spicy.

 

[phissionkorps]

SOUP dish? More like chili = whatever meet you have around, some beer, and a couple tomatos.

 

[vraev]

lol! I eat too much spice. All my friends in Uni know me as having "mutated taste buds". Lol! no suttle flavors for me. give me the spice. There is a restaurant called Beijing hut near Uni, I go there with my friends and the guy makes me Kung bow Chicken Extra Spicy. lol! WICKED! My friend tried some from my plate last time and he started sweating from his scalp...I am sitting there mesmorized by the taste. lol!

 

[Clint]

Last night I made some stiry fry chicken with loads of red pepper flakes, coarse black pepper, garlic, lemon, and Jalapeno. It was so hot I thought I'd pass out but it was so good I ate it all! I don't know why it is whenever I get ahold of something REALLY insanely hot I just HAVE to eat more even though it hurts so good! Endorphin rush I guess.

I've never had a habanero, though. I'm not brave enough!

 

[Finch]

If you ever visit the Midwest, we out here like it mild. Our “hot” foods are downright balmy compared to the rest of the country. I have never encountered enough really hot food to get a real tolerance for the stuff. This pepper sounds insane. One report said that it would cause your eyes to burn 100 feet away from where it was being cooked. I hope that is an exaggeration.

 

[Ozzy]

Now, people here are talking like typical habs aren't all that spicy, just because there's a new champ.

You think they are bad to eat you should try them in your eyes. I cut up some to put in beef stroganoff once. That was a very bad night.

I would love to try this new pepper.

 

[phissionkorps]

You think they are bad to eat you should try them in your eyes.

Been there, done that. Except that it was the NEXT DAY while I was putting my contacts in.

 

[obregon562]

this sounds insanely good!

both my favorite food cultures use hot chiles: Asian (specifically Chinese) and Mexican (specifical Oaxacan)

...mmm...burning insides...

I need to start growing chiles!