Since 2013, the reaper pepper has worn the title belt for the hottest on the Scoville scale. What is the hottest pepper on the Scoville scale?

However, we can accurately say the Scotch Bonnet’s Scoville scale rating makes it an extra hot pepper that will deliver an exceptional (and to some people, unbearable) amount of heat. Often, when you see that a pepper has a range on the Scoville scale (for example, the Scotch Bonnet ranges from around 150,000-400,000), that variance accounts for potential capsaicin differences among Scotch Bonnets. However, environmental factors affect the amount of capsaicin a chili pepper produces, so a jalapeno in optimal conditions will have more capsaicin than a jalapeno deprived of nutrients, sunlight, etc. The Scoville scale is reliable in the sense that an accurate scientific process (high-performance liquid chromatography) measures the amount of capsaicin present in a particular chili pepper. The higher the number on the Scoville scale, the hotter the pepper. The Scoville scale measures the heat of a particular pepper. Put simply, SHU rankings are now assigned based on how much capsaicin a pepper (or hot sauce) contains. HPLC is a scientific process used to separate components of a mixture for analysis, and it tells us how many capsaicinoids (the chemical capsaicin) are present in parts per million. Today, chili pepper heat is determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) instead of by the subjective sensation of heat by a panel of human tasters. Likewise, if a pepper was assigned a 220,000 SHU (like a habanero), it took 220,000 teaspoons of sugar water to neutralize the heat. So, if it took 1,000 teaspoons of sugar water to render one teaspoon of ground poblano pepper to a “no-heat” level for tasters, then the poblano pepper was assigned a 1,000 Scoville Heat Unit (or SHU).

What is the Scoville scale?ĭeveloped by pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912 (yes, humanity has been obsessed with chili peppers for a long time), the initial Scoville scale referred to how many parts of sugar water would dilute a ground chili pepper until it no longer felt hot to a panel of human tasters. Let’s dig into the history of the Scoville scale and look at a few hot pepper rankings. The Scoville scale is our scientific measuring stick for the pungency of a particular chili pepper, categorizing it into mild, medium, hot, extra hot, or extremely hot. Any unit of measurement that can 1) be abbreviated or 2) has an official-sounding name lends a certain scientific credibility-and so it is with our dear frenemies, the chili peppers. Folks toss the terms “Scoville Heat Units,” “SHU,” and “Scoville scale” around when they’re discussing the finer points of how much a particular chili pepper, hot sauce, or salsa is going to hurt.

Reaper scale highlight