2001 Scoville Heat Levels Reported

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By Dave DeWitt

The Chile Pepper Institute of New Mexico State University has reported on the pungency levels of some of the chile varieties grown in the 2001 Demonstration and Teaching Garden. Dr. Paul Bosland, director of the Institute, cautioned that these heat levels are the result of a single test of chiles grown in that specific environment and therefore should not be considered definitive heat levels for the particular varieties. Factors affecting pungency include genetic background, soil, temperature, fertilizer, and watering practices. The numbers represent Scoville Heat Units (SHU), the standard industry measurement.

There are some interesting points about the heat levels below, ranked from least to most pungent. First, ‘Hot Pepper Navajo’ is not very hot at all, with a barely detectable heat level. The variety ‘PC-1′, from two different seed sources, was inconsistent, with one being more than ten times the heat of the other. This variety was rumored to be the notorious ‘Tezpur’ or ‘Naga Jolokia,” which Indian scientists had called the hottest in the world. Well, with these low scores, it’s not (see our 2006 Update on the Indian chiles here). The hottest variety tested was a chocolate habanero with a rating of more than 300,000 Scoville Units, a very high score. Tabasco scored very high–much higher than the published range, but Dr. Bosland said that this was not unusual.

In a test of a variety not grown in the Demonstration Garden but from samples provided by German chile gardener Harald Zoschke, the Birdseye variety from Africa was measured at 112,226 SHU, and the same variety grown in Harald’s garden was measured at 99,579 SHU. Harald also grew a Caribbean Red Habaneros which scored amazing 240,808 SHU in an HPLC test.

See also:

Heat Scale Updated, by Dave DeWitt

Photos and Illustration by Harald Zoschke

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