Hottest Pepper Title Goes to Trinidad Moruga Scorpion

This hot pepper is considered a tear-generating, sweat inducing pepper, mouth on fire, and has been given the title of the newest hottest pepper on the planet after months of doing research.  Pepper experts did the research at the New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute.  It is a pepper that is golf ball size and has a mean heat that is more than one point two million units on the Scoville heat scale.

A pepper expert said that when you bite this pepper it does not seem very bad but then it begins to build up heat and can become quite nasty.  The researchers have been pushed by seed producers, people who work in the industry making spicy foods, and hot sauce makers to find out the heat level for varieties of super hot peppers on average.  They wanted this heat level so they would know which peppers were the hottest.

The research team planted one hundred twenty-five plants of several varieties, which included the Trinidad Scorpion, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, the Bhut Jolokia, the Chocolate seven pots, and the regular seven pots.  In 2007, the Bhut Jolokia was a record holder and certified by Guinness World Records.

Hottest Pepper Title Goes to Trinidad Moruga ScorpionThey randomly selected the mature peppers from several plants in each variety, dried them, and then grounded them to powder.  The next step was to extract and examine the Capsaicinoids, which are the compounds that produce the heat sensation.  Many times when they were picking the pickers, some of the capsaicinoids were so hot they soaked through four pairs of latex gloves and into their hands.

The pepper that won is not only the hottest in the world but is also very flavorful.