Why Are Peppers Hot and What is the Hottest Pepper?

Peppers are rated in Scoville heat units (SHU) that indicate the amount of capsaicin or the heat producing substance found in a pepper. To come up with the scale, sugar water is added to a pepper extract made from each pepper until the pepper's heat is no longer detectible by five tasters. So, a bell pepper has a rating of zero because no dilution is required to remove the heat and a solution from a really hot pepper such as a habanera may need to be diluted up to 200,000 times, so the heat scale rating for a habanera would be 200,000. Pure capsaicin has a rating of 15-16 million. Capsaicin is so powerful its commonly used as a weapon because of its ability to be so irritating to humans. When human skin or mucous membranes come in contact with the substance, it interferes with the brain's pain reactors and creates a warm or hot sensation. That's why capsaicin is often used in topical arthritis ointments. You can make an organic pepper spray for bugs my mixing 2 tbs of habanero, cayenne, or other really hot pepper juice to one gallon of water along with 2 tsps of liquid soap like ivory or castille and spray directly on offending bugs. Don't broadcast over the entire garden because the soap can burn plants in hot weather. It's easier to hit the bugs early in the morning while their wings are wet with dew.

The hotness of peppers can vary due to growing conditions, but growing temperatures over 90 degrees are beneficial if you like your chile peppers really hot. Peppers are grown after the danger of frost has passed and thrive in ordinary garden soil. Larger pepper plants, such as the bell pepper, like a little shade from the hottest afternoon sun in the southern US. Common peppers that we are familiar with fall into the following order from the lowest to highest heat rating: Bell, Pimento, Pepperoncini, Poblano, Ancho, Anaheim, Numex Big Jim, Jalapeno, Chipolte, Hot Wax, Serrano, Aji, Tabasco, Cayenne, Chile Piquin, Thai, Bird's Eye, Orange Habenera, Chocolate Habenero, Red Habenero, and the hottest of all, Naga Jolokia. In India the Naga Jolokia pepper is smeared on fences and used in smoke bombs to keep wild elephants at a distance. A great source of pepper seeds and information on the hottest of the hot is: http://www.nagaseeds.org The best food or drink to consume if you overdo it with peppers is ice cream or milk. Although they can relieve the burn in your mouth from a hot pepper, they can't undo any damage to your digestive system which reacts to hot peppers the same way it would to burning liquids. Removing the seeds from a hot pepper before eating takes out a lot of the heat.