Carolina Reaper - World's Hottest Chili Pepper [Ranked by Scoville]

Sep 30, 2023
Herbal
2,674 Views

Carolina Reaper - The world’s hottest chili pepper

Carolina Reaper has been recorded as the world’s hottest chili pepper since 2013 that shows 2.2 million Scoville Heat Units. It surpassed the previous record holder Trinidad Scorpion Butch T. Ed Currie, a South Carolina breeder developed the Carolina Reaper (HP22B) chili variety by crossing a Pakistani Naga with a Red Habanero chili variety. At the maturity stage, Carolina reaper has vibrant red color and it has 2.5-5cm width and 5-7.5cm length. Although high amount of Carolina reaper causes symptoms like mouth burning, mouth numbness and vomiting, small amount of this hottest chili gives various nutrition values such as rich in minerals like potassium & iron, good vitamin source (Vitamin A, C) as well as it has high beta carotene content.

Health benefits of Carolina reaper

Thermogenic properties – It burns your calories after eating
Antimicrobial properties
Anti cancer potential
Anti inflammatory effects

What is the Pungency?

The definitions of the pungency are ‘Sharp, piercing, stinging, biting or penetrating quality’ or ‘power 10 excite or stimulate’ and also it can be referred as ‘the total content of Capsaicinoids.’ The Capsaicinoids is the collection of capsaicin, homocapsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin and nordihdrocapsaicin. It is produced in the gland that is located in the union of the placenta with the fruit wall and accumulated in vacuoles of the epidermal cells in the fruit.

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The Scoville Scale

The Scoville Scale is used to determine the pungency of fruits of the genus capsicum (chilis and peppers) based on the capsaicinoids concentration. American pharmacologist, Wilbur Scoville was the inventor of the Scoville scale. Here, prepared chili sample that is tested by a panel of testers and diluted with water repeatedly until they no longer burned the tongues of the tasters. Based on the no. of dilutions required to kill the heat, a number is assigned to the chili pepper. Currently, SHU like subjective method is not used to check the pungency level. It has replaced by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

The-Scoville-Scale

References

www.scovillescale.org

Munoz-Ramirez, L. S., Pena-Yam, L., P., Aviles-Vinas, S.A., Canto-Flick, A, Guzman-Antonio, A. A., & Santana-Buzzy, N. (2018). Behavior of the hottest chili peppers in the world cultivated in Yucatan, Mexico. Hortscience horts, 53(12), 1772-1775. Retrieved sep 30, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13574-18