Bhut Jolokia Pepper

Bhut Jolokia, also known as ghost pepper, is an interspecific hybrid pepper grown in northeast India. It is a cross between Capsicum chinense and Capsicum frutescens.

In 2007, Guinness World Records certified Bhut Jolokia as the world's hottest pepper, 170 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. It is estimated to have over a million Scoville Heat Units (SHU), far exceeding the strength of a Cayenne pepper. However, in the race to grow the hottest pepper, Bhut Jolokia was surpassed by Trinidad Scorpion Butch T in 2011 and Carolina Reaper in 2013.

Its name means "Bhutanese pepper" in Assamese, although the first element bhüt, meaning "Bhutan", has been confused with a quasi-homonym bhut meaning "ghost". In northeast India, Bhut Jolokia is also known as "king pepper" or "king cobra pepper".

Measurements of the heat of this pepper have varied over the years, but it was rated at 855,000 SHU in 2000 by the Defence Research Laboratory of India, and 1,041,427 SHU in 2004. In 2005, the Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University found that ghost peppers grown from seed in southern New Mexico had a Scoville rating of 1,001,304 SHU.

Ripe peppers measure 60 to 85 mm long and 25 to 30 mm wide, with a red, yellow, orange or chocolate color. Bhut Jolokia is an extremely variable plant, with a wide range of fruit sizes and fruit production per plant. Its pods are distinguished from other peppers by their characteristic shape and very thin skin. However, there are two different types of red fruit: rough, bumpy and smooth. Plants with rough fruit are larger, with more fragile branches, while plants with smooth fruit produce more fruit and are more compact with sturdier branches.