| In 2000, scientists at India's Defense Research Laboratory (DRL) reported a rating of 855,000 units on the Scoville scale and in 2004 an Indian company obtained a rating of 1,041,427 units through HPLC analysis. This makes it almost twice as hot as the Red Savina pepper, Guinness World Record holder at that time. For comparison, Tabasco red pepper sauce rates at 2,500-5,000, and pure capsaicin (the chemical responsible for the pungency of pepper plants) rates at 15,000,000-16,000,000 Scoville units.
The Bhut Jolokia Pepper we sell are grown in total isolation (no other pepper plants within 1 mile or more) in Assam India to insure absolute genetic purity. The parent seeds came from plants that tested over 1,000,000 (1 million) SKU's. This ensures that you get a premium product that is rarely offered anywhere else, as most Bhut Jolokia Pepper seed producers do not grow their peppers in total isolation. Even with these stringent quality control methods the heat of the offspring can still vary greatly depending on the climate at the time of their growing. |