Scoville scale: this is the ranking of the spiciest foods in the world

If you like spicy food, you may have heard of what is known as the Scoville Scale . This is a measure of the heat in peppers, and the number of Scoville units indicates the amount of capsaicin it contains.

Origin of the Scoville Scale

The origin of this scale dates back to the early twentieth century by the hand of Wilbur Scoville , hence its name. A scientist who performed the first organoleptic test to measure the heat in peppers.

Wilbur Scoville was an American chemist . The milestone in his history as a scientist was the quantification of the hotness of peppers. Of course, he also did many other things, much of them related to perfumes.

To carry out the exam, the procedure is as follows. A solution of pepper extract is diluted in sugar water and the degree of solution of said extract is measured on the scale. In this way, a green pepper that does not contain capsaicin, and therefore is not hot, has zero on the Scoville scale.

On the contrary, the hottest chili in the world , baptized as Carolina Reaper, has a heat that ranges between 1,150,000 and 2,180,000 Scoville Units (SHU). To give us an idea of what this means, the standard pepper has between 2,500 and 5,000 SHU.

Very few people have dared to try the hottest chili in the world. Experts explain that as soon as you put it in your mouth, even a very small piece, the pain receptors in the mouth, tongue and lips are activated. Reactions are as follows: tearing, shortness of breath, burning throat, inflammation of the stomach, nausea and diarrhea .

Escoville scale: tabla

• 0: green pepper.
• 100 – 500: bell pepper, pepperoni, banana pepper.
• 500 – 1,000: poblano pepper.
• 1,500-2,000: sweet pepper.
• 2: 500 – 5,000: jalapeño pepper, padrón pepper.
• 5,000 – 8,000: chilli from Ibarra, Hungarian wax chili.
• 5,000 – 15,000: bell pepper.
• 10,000 – 23: 000: chile de arbol, some varieties of chipotle chile, serrano pepper.
• 30,000 – 50,000: cayenne, yellow chili, some varieties of chipotle chili, Tabasco chili.
• 50,000 – 100,000: malagueta chili, piquín chili, chiltepon chili, Thai chili.
• 100,000 – 200,000: apple tree, piri piri, hot Jamaican pepper.
• 100,000 – 350,000: habanero pepper, date chili.
• 350,000 – 580,000: red savinas habanero pepper.
• 855,000 – 1,041,427: naga jolokia.
• 1,300,000 – 2,000,000: naga viper.
• 1,569,300 – 2,200,000: carolina reaper.
• 1,900,500 – 2,480,000: dragon`s breath.
• 2,800,000 – 3,180,000: pepper x.

This is all you need to know about the Scoville Scale . It is still used today to evaluate the heat of peppers and chili peppers.