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From a linked citation on the wiki page: Mr Currie is one of only five people who has eaten an entire Pepper X. "I was feeling the heat for three and a half ho

From a linked citation on the wiki page: Mr Currie is one of only five people who has eaten an entire Pepper X. "I was feeling the heat for three and a half hours. Then the cramps came," Mr Currie told the Associated Press. "Those cramps are horrible. I was laid out flat on a marble wall for approximately an hour in the rain, groaning in pain." Haha, what's next, peppers exuding pure capsaicin crystals?

_a_a_a_ 3y ago
> exuding pure capsaicin crystals How about shooting them out with force towards any large moving object. I'd have one (kept in an aquarium).
sli 3y ago
I find it extremely appropriate that high concentrations of capsaicin in a chili manifest as little pointy spikes, which is why anything from a ghost pepper and up looks extremely mean.
- isoprophlex 3y ago
  Yes indeed, these things look hilariously inedible and aggressive
  - ethbr1 3y ago
    Thank god. For once, mother nature didn't pull a polar bear on us.
danielheath 3y ago
IIRC the Scoville Heat Unit is “equivalent parts per million capsaicin” - so it’s already considerably hotter than pure capsaicin is (there are spicier molecules available).
- theptip 3y ago
  Pure capsaicin is 16m Scoville. Not aware of any peppers using chemicals other than capsaicin, though you are correct that other chemicals supersede capsaicin on the Scoville scale.
  - bjackman 3y ago
    In the hot ones video the breeder said that there are indeed other capsinoids present and that it is key to the experience. Obviously he does have an incentive to say that! But when someone says "no, plant chemistry is more complicated than that" I'm normally inclined to believe them!
  - dom96 3y ago
    Does this mean that the highest any new "hot pepper" can ever get to is 16m Scoville?
- josephcsible 3y ago
  I thought it was 16 million, not 1 million, so it's still not quite there yet.
- messe 3y ago
  You’re mistaken. Pure capsaicin is 16 million SHU. I can’t remember the exact details of how the SHU is defined, but IIRC it’s related to the number of times a substance (having been dissolved in alcohol) would have to be diluted in a solution of sugar water before the pungency is undetectable.
  - isoprophlex 3y ago
    It's the dilution until pungency equals that of water / cannot be detected by a taste panel.
    - tromp 3y ago
      As Ed explains at 5:40 in the video [1] above, they use a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) test [2] rather than a subjective taste panel now. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale
A_D_E_P_T 3y ago
Apparently the Carolina Reaper, which is significantly weaker than Pepper X, has a capsaicin content of around 100mg/g [1] -- and each one weighs around 5 grams. 10% of the Carolina Reaper, by weight, is capsaicin. I think that this is why all high-capsaicin peppers look so shriveled and stunted -- the capsaicin itself interferes with normal structural development. To put it into perspective: Your regular jalapeno pepper has a capsaicin content of 0.22mg/g. [1] - https://mendelnet.cz/pdfs/mnt/2017/01/96.pdf https://mendelnet.cz/pdfs/mnt/2017/01/96.pdf
- 4gotunameagain 3y ago
  from the wikipedia page: The extensive curves and ridges of a Pepper X chili create more surface area for the plant placenta and locules to grow and retain capsaicin, adding to the intensity of heat experienced when a Pepper X is eaten.[2]. So it could be an intentionally bred feature
- fanf2 3y ago
  Yep. Scovilles are (roughly) ppm capsaicin x 16, so Pepper X is about 170mg/g.
- giantg2 3y ago
  Most of the capsaicin is in the pith. On some peppers the pith is not really differentiated from the flesh other than the ribs that jut out and where the seeds hang. On the reaper and some of these other hot peppers, the pith is a very noticeable membrane covering the entire inside surface of the pepper. The flesh of the pepper is actually very thin, so you end up with with a lot of pith and not that much more flesh. That's how the percentage can get so high.
  - Gregordinary 3y ago
    Superhots also produce capsaicin in the fruit, unique from non-superhots. Removing the pith from a ghost, reaper, etc., will significantly reduce the heat but still contain a lot of capsaicin from vesicles present in the fruit itself. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279564263_Novel_Formation_of_Ectopic_Nonplacental_Capsaicinoid_Secreting_Vesicles_on_Fruit_Walls_Explains_the_Morphological_Mechanism_for_Super-hot_Chile_Peppers https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279564263_Novel_For...
twic 3y ago
> laid out flat on a marble wall Christ, it's so hot it rotates gravity!
TomMasz 3y ago
I will never understand why people eat these peppers. I can't imagine any food being so good you'd overlook three and half hours of extreme discomfort followed by an hour of agony to eat it.
- beezlewax 3y ago
  They get a high eating these

_a_a_a_ 3y ago

> exuding pure capsaicin crystals How about shooting them out with force towards any large moving object. I'd have one (kept in an aquarium).

sli 3y ago

I find it extremely appropriate that high concentrations of capsaicin in a chili manifest as little pointy spikes, which is why anything from a ghost pepper and up looks extremely mean.

isoprophlex 3y ago
Yes indeed, these things look hilariously inedible and aggressive
- ethbr1 3y ago
  Thank god. For once, mother nature didn't pull a polar bear on us.

danielheath 3y ago

IIRC the Scoville Heat Unit is “equivalent parts per million capsaicin” - so it’s already considerably hotter than pure capsaicin is (there are spicier molecules available).

theptip 3y ago
Pure capsaicin is 16m Scoville. Not aware of any peppers using chemicals other than capsaicin, though you are correct that other chemicals supersede capsaicin on the Scoville scale.
- bjackman 3y ago
  In the hot ones video the breeder said that there are indeed other capsinoids present and that it is key to the experience. Obviously he does have an incentive to say that! But when someone says "no, plant chemistry is more complicated than that" I'm normally inclined to believe them!
- dom96 3y ago
  Does this mean that the highest any new "hot pepper" can ever get to is 16m Scoville?
josephcsible 3y ago
I thought it was 16 million, not 1 million, so it's still not quite there yet.
messe 3y ago
You’re mistaken. Pure capsaicin is 16 million SHU. I can’t remember the exact details of how the SHU is defined, but IIRC it’s related to the number of times a substance (having been dissolved in alcohol) would have to be diluted in a solution of sugar water before the pungency is undetectable.
- isoprophlex 3y ago
  It's the dilution until pungency equals that of water / cannot be detected by a taste panel.
  - tromp 3y ago
    As Ed explains at 5:40 in the video [1] above, they use a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) test [2] rather than a subjective taste panel now. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale

A_D_E_P_T 3y ago

Apparently the Carolina Reaper, which is significantly weaker than Pepper X, has a capsaicin content of around 100mg/g [1] -- and each one weighs around 5 grams. 10% of the Carolina Reaper, by weight, is capsaicin. I think that this is why all high-capsaicin peppers look so shriveled and stunted -- the capsaicin itself interferes with normal structural development. To put it into perspective: Your regular jalapeno pepper has a capsaicin content of 0.22mg/g. [1] - https://mendelnet.cz/pdfs/mnt/2017/01/96.pdf https://mendelnet.cz/pdfs/mnt/2017/01/96.pdf

4gotunameagain 3y ago
from the wikipedia page: The extensive curves and ridges of a Pepper X chili create more surface area for the plant placenta and locules to grow and retain capsaicin, adding to the intensity of heat experienced when a Pepper X is eaten.[2]. So it could be an intentionally bred feature
fanf2 3y ago
Yep. Scovilles are (roughly) ppm capsaicin x 16, so Pepper X is about 170mg/g.
giantg2 3y ago
Most of the capsaicin is in the pith. On some peppers the pith is not really differentiated from the flesh other than the ribs that jut out and where the seeds hang. On the reaper and some of these other hot peppers, the pith is a very noticeable membrane covering the entire inside surface of the pepper. The flesh of the pepper is actually very thin, so you end up with with a lot of pith and not that much more flesh. That's how the percentage can get so high.
- Gregordinary 3y ago
  Superhots also produce capsaicin in the fruit, unique from non-superhots. Removing the pith from a ghost, reaper, etc., will significantly reduce the heat but still contain a lot of capsaicin from vesicles present in the fruit itself. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279564263_Novel_Formation_of_Ectopic_Nonplacental_Capsaicinoid_Secreting_Vesicles_on_Fruit_Walls_Explains_the_Morphological_Mechanism_for_Super-hot_Chile_Peppers https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279564263_Novel_For...

twic 3y ago

> laid out flat on a marble wall Christ, it's so hot it rotates gravity!

TomMasz 3y ago

I will never understand why people eat these peppers. I can't imagine any food being so good you'd overlook three and half hours of extreme discomfort followed by an hour of agony to eat it.

beezlewax 3y ago
They get a high eating these