Home Scoville Units in a Super Chili Pepper

Scoville Units in a Super Chili Pepper

Scoville Rating
40,000 - 50,000 SHU

The Super Chili Pepper is a type of hot chili pepper. This early bearing fruit bears colors that range from vibrant orange to brilliant red. The pepper pods are about two and a half inches in length and about an inch in width. They grow in an upright position instead of downward like many of their counterparts.

Super Chili peppers require a hot and humid climate. For maximum yield, plants should be placed in areas with full sun exposure. Many homeowners, with limited gardening space, use this plant as a border. In order to maintain compactness, it is necessary that the leaves of young plants be pinched. Regardless of where the plants are cultivated, they require fertilization each month.

The Scale Brief

The Super Chili pepper is a fiery hot variety. Consumption of the fruit leaves a tremendous burning sensation in the mouth, throat, and stomach. Any amount of contact with the skin produces a painful burning sensation. Capsaicin is the causative factor behind this burn. It is a chemical compound found in chili peppers. Sometimes, capsaicin it referred to as the “heat” in a chili pepper. The capsaicin in each pepper is used in testing to determine an individual ranking for each. The ranking is given in the form of range. This allows for slight variations in pepper of the same type that may have been cultivated in different locations and climates.

Methods of Testing

Today, High Performance Liquid Chromatography is used. In 1912, Wilbur Scoville, a chemist for a pharmaceutical company, developed the scale based on his test. In this test, he presented a panel of tasters with a mixture of sugar water and chili pepper. He asked them to taste the solution. He continued dilution with sugar water until the burning sensation to the tongue was completely gone. The number of dilutions that were added to the mixture was used to form a ranking for each variety of hot pepper. Although, the test has changed with technological advancements, Mr. Scoville’s scale is still in use.

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