The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Pepper has dethroned all previous challengers to become the world’s new hottest chili.
The team planted 125 plants of the hottest known varieties–the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, the Trinidad Scorpion, the 7-pot, the Chocolate 7-pot and the previous world record holder, the Bhut Jolokia. Once ripe, several peppers from each type were harvested, dried and ground to a powder. From that powder, the team extracted capsaicinoids (the compounds that give peppers their heat) and rated them. The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion averaged 1.2 million SHU with some individual fruits measuring a face-melting two million-plus SHU.
These peppers are so hot that the team went through multiple sets of gloves during the harvest because the Scorpion’s capsaicin, “kept penetrating the latex and soaking into the skin on our hands. That has never happened to me before,” said senior research specialist Danise Coon.
After reading this, you have to wonder what the hell they’re going to do with this thing now that the previous record is broken. Weaponize it?
(via Gizmodo)
