LAS CRUCES, N.M., Oct. 27 Researchers say the India's Bhut Jolokia pepper has earned a spot in Guinness World Records as the world's hottest chile pepper.
Tests of peppers grown at New Mexico State University show Bhut Jolokia reached 1 million Scoville heat units (SHUs). That was almost double the SHUs of Red Savina, the previous record holder, which measured 577,000 SHUs.
Dr. Paul Bosland, director of the university's Chile Pepper Institute, collected seeds of Bhut Jolokia while visiting India in 2001.
"The name Bhut Jolokia translates as 'ghost chile,'" Bosland said Friday in a release. "I think it's because the chile is so hot, you give up the ghost when you eat it."
Copyright 2007 by UPI
