Little is known about this Chilli except that it is claimed to be the most pungent ever known to man. Its founder, Ed Curry, claims it has registered as high as 3.18 million Scoville heat units. When considering that the world’s officially hottest Chilli – the Carolina reaper – registers a mere 1.57 million SHU , if verified, this Chilli could be a potent Chilli indeed. So potent that eating one would potentially be dangerous
Ed Curry knows a thing about Chillies. He is the Guinness book records title holder for the world’s hottest Chilli – the Carolina Reaper. He claims he selectively cross-bred super hot Chillies over an extended period to arrive at his goal as he did with the Reaper. Pepper X apparently was developed over a period of ten years.
At this time, no information is available on what species it falls under, but I would suspect it would have been developed from cross-breeding a selection of Capsicum chinense species Chillies. The Carolina Reaper was a cross between the Soufriere pepper (from the Caribbean) and the Naga Viper Chilli ( from Pakistan).
Before the announcement of Pepper X, Mike Smith of St Asaph in the United Kingdom claimed to have developed a Chilli called the Dragons Breath. He claimed that the Chilli registers 2.48 million SHU. It was not developed as an eating Chilli but rather to be used to develop a low-cost local anaesthetic. Capsaicin, the compound that makes Chillies hot, has a pain-numbing effect at high doses. It is said that eating one could lead to anaphylactic shock
If the Dragons’ Breath can do that, just imagine what Pepper x can do
Let’s wait and see how it turns out. Both claims need to be officially confirmed.
