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Journalism of Courage
‘Pepper X’ has now officially broken the record for the world’s hottest chilli pepper, the Guinness World Records announced on its website. It got an average rating of 26,93,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), beating the previous record that was held by the Carolina Reaper, which averages 1.64 million SHU.
Interestingly, ‘Pepper X’ was grown by Ed Currie, founder of Puckerbutt Pepper Company in the US, who also created the previous record holder, the Carolina Reaper, the GWR website states. Currie unveiled Pepper X on an episode of hit YouTube series Hot Ones.
Pepper X’s sizzling Scoville score was calculated by South Carolina’s Winthrop University. The institute conducted tests using specimens from the past four years.
For context, an jalapeno is around 3,000 to 8,000 SHU. The Scoville scale is used to measure the spiciness of chilli peppers. It is based on the concentration of capsaicin, which is an active component of chilli peppers and causes a burning sensation when it makes contact with human tissue, the GWR website says.
There is a commonly held belief that the seeds of a pepper are what makes it hot. However, it is not true as the capsaicin is contained in the placenta, the tissue which holds the seeds. Currie cultivated Pepper X on his farm for over 10 years, cross breeding it with some of his hottest peppers to increase its capsaicin content.
Claus Pilgaard, popularly known as Chili Klaus, after tasting Pepper X said, “Did you invent that pepper? Why?” as others broke into laughter.
“When I am trying to create a new pepper, I start with the capsaicin extract in there. Everybody knows the three major ones but the minor ones are what really bring it up. First thing is I look for peppers with those minors and the second thing is the flavour,” Currie said in the video.
