Unofficiallly, the Trinidad Scorpion Morouga is currently the hottest pepper on the planet, although there are some people who are extremely obsessed and this could change anytime soon (or could have already changed; officially, or not). During testing, the Trinidad Scorpion Morouga’s highest rating was slightly over two million Scoville Heat Units (SHU). As a comparison, the hottest jalapeno pepper measures about eight thousand SHU.

[The photo (which looks a bit like the wrinkled face of an old man to me) was found at Fatali’s chiles]

The SHU is a measure of the concentration of capsaicin, which stimulates chemo-receptor nerve endings, particularly those within the mucous membranes.  The SHU scale is named after Wilbur Scoville, who first developed the methodology in 1912. Modern analysis uses high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine the capsaicinoid concentration (pure capsaicin has a SHU of 16 million).

It seems that every year there is a new, hotter pepper variety/hybrid.

For years, the reigning champion was acknowledged as the Red Savina pepper, a habanero chili variety that was bred by Frank Garcia (three hundred thousand SHU).

And then the obsession began, and the world saw such champions as: the Dorset Naga, the Bhut (Ghost) Jolokia, the Naga Morich, the 7 Pod Jonah, the Naga Viper, et cetera.

I enjoy my hot sauce, but I’m pretty sure any one of the above peppers is out of my league.