Scoville Scale for Peppers

In February 2007, Naga Jolokia pepper, native to India, replaced the Red Savina Habanero pepper, native to the United States of America, to become the hottest pepper in the world. In course of these three years, Naga Jolokia, also known as Bhut Jolokia, has not just become popular in the Indian subcontinent, but also become quite popular in West where it is referred to as Ghost pepper. The piquancy of this pepper variety ranges between 800,000 and 1,000,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Now that may seem to be a bit confusing considering that very few people are actually aware of Scoville scale measure the piquancy of peppers.

Scoville Scale for Different Pepper Varieties

Named after the renowned American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville, the Scoville scale is one of the three different scales used to determine the hotness or heat in a given variety of pepper. The Official Chile Heat Scale and the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are the other two methods used to determine the heat quotient of any given pepper variety. In case of Scoville scale, the amount of capsaicin - a chemical compound present in plants belonging to Genus Capsicum, is measured to determine its hotness.

As per the norms of Scoville scale, the alcohol extract of capsaicin oil is derived from dried pepper and added to sugar solution in small amounts in a gradual manner until the hotness or heat of the same is detectable. It is followed by the process of tasting wherein a stipulated number of tasters - usually five, taste the same and come to a conclusion about the hotness of pepper variety. This hotness is depicted in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) or Scoville ratings (SR) on the basis of the degree of dilution. The fact that the Scoville scale method relies on human subjectivity is by far the biggest weakness of this method.

Scoville Scale Chart

A new variety of pepper - the Naga Viper, which is produced by crossbreeding the Naga Morich, Naga Jolokia and the Trinidad Scorpion, deserves a special mention for the 1,359,000 SHU that it boasts of. However, this record is not yet official, as it is yet to be submitted to the concerned authorities. There is very little doubt about the fact that Naga Viper will topple Naga Jolokia off the top spot, and become the world's hottest pepper when these formalities are completed, but as of now it is Naga Jolokia which tops the hottest peppers list. The Scoville scale chart given below has some of the hottest peppers of the world enlisted in it.

Scoville Heat Units (SHU)	Pepper
855,000-1,000,000	Naga Jolokia
350,000-580,000	Red Savina pepper
100,000-350,000	Habanero pepper, Scotch bonnet pepper, etc.
50,000-100,000	Bird's eye chili, chiltepin, etc.
30,000 - 50,000	Cayenne pepper, Tabasco pepper etc.
10,000-30-000	Chile de árbol, Manzano, etc.
5,000-10,000	Jalapeno pepper, Chipotle, etc.
2,500-5,000	Guajillo pepper, Poblano pepper, etc.
1000-2,500	Anaheim pepper, Rocotillo pepper, etc.
500-1,000	New Mexico pepper, Green pepper, etc.
100-500	Pimento pepper, Banana pepper, etc.
Zero	Sweet bell pepper

As you see in this chart, Ghost pepper or Naga Jolokia tops the list of hottest peppers with 855,000-1,000,000 SHU. No prize in guessing that the ratings on Scoville scale for hot sauce produced using varieties such as Ghost chili pepper will exceed the 1,000,000 SHU mark with ease. This may come as a surprise for many but there do exist some products which surpass Naga Jolokia in terms of Scoville Heat Units. For instance, the Scoville scale for pepper spray (law enforcement grade) ranges between 5,000,000-5,300,000 SHU. The same for common pepper spray ranges between 1,150,000-2,000,000. As far as Scoville scale ratings for pure capsaicin are concerned, they range between 15,000,000-16,000,000 SHU thus making it a lot hotter than any of the pepper varieties enlisted in the Scoville scale chart given above.