Pepper X

Last updated
Pepper X
Species Capsicum chinense
Breeder Ed Currie
Origin Fort Mill, South Carolina, United States
Heat Chilli55.svg Exceptionally hot
Scoville scale On average: 2,693,000 [1] SHU

Pepper X is a cultivar of chili pepper recognized by Guinness World Records in 2023 as the world's hottest chili pepper. [1] It was bred by Ed Currie, the creator of the Carolina Reaper. [2] [3] [4]

Pepper X measures an average of 2.693 million Scoville heat units (SHU), beating the previous world record of 1.64 million SHU held by the Carolina Reaper. [1] [2]

Pepper X is a crossbreed of a Carolina Reaper and a pepper sent to Currie by a friend. [2] The curves and ridges of a Pepper X chili create more surface area for its placenta, the tissue that contains capsaicin, to grow. [2]

Currie said that, when he ate a Pepper X chili, he "was feeling the heat for three and a half hours" and then experienced cramps that had him "laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain". [2]

Pepper X's heat status has been criticized, because independent testing of the pepper has not been performed. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hottest chilli pepper". Guinness World Records Ltd. 23 August 2023. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kim, Chloe (17 October 2023). "Guinness World Records crowns new hottest pepper". BBC News. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  3. Hultquist, Mike (23 February 2018). "Pepper X – Latest News and Information". Chili Pepper Madness. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  4. Saelinger, Tracy (29 September 2017). "'World's hottest pepper' will make you choke, sweat and cry for mercy". Today, NBC News. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  5. Schoenherr, Daniel (December 14, 2023). "Pepper wars: Michigan grower disputes Pepper X's record for world's hottest pepper". Great Lakes Echo.