Which is the world’s hottest pepper?

The bhut jolokia variety which grows in north-eastern India, was given a rating of 8,55,000 Scoville heat units by Ritesh Mathur and his colleagues at the Defence Research and Development Establishment, Gwalior. They reported their finding in an August 2000 issue of Current Science. The scientists tested a Tezpur variety of the bhut, or Capsicum Frutescens var. (botanists know it as Nagahari). The Guinness Book of World Records recently certified the bhut jolokia as the world’s hottest chilli pepper. The chilli probably gets its name owing to its demonic bite – bhut means ghost and jolokia means chilli. A single seed of the bhut can cause intense spicy sensations in the mouth for up to 30 minutes. Smeared on fences, they are also employed to scare off wild elephants.