Naga Jolokia - Bhut Jolokia

The Naga Jolokia (also known as Bhut Jolokia, Ghost Chili, Ghost Pepper, Naga Morich) is a chili pepper that grows primarily in Assam state of India, but also in northeastern India (Nagaland, Manipur), Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. In 2006, it was confirmed by Guinness World Records to be the hottest chili in the world, replacing the Red Savina. Disagreement has arisen on whether it is a Capsicum frutescens or a Capsicum chinense. The Indians claim it is a C. frutescens, but recent DNA tests have found that it is an interspecies hybrid, mostly C. chinense with some C. frutescens genes. Other names It is called Naga Morich in Bangladesh, Nai Miris in Sri Lanka (Nai = 'Cobra', Miris = 'Chili'; in Sinhalese) and Bih Jolokia in the Indian state of Assam (Bih = 'poison', Jolokia = 'chili pepper'; in Assamese).

Other names are Bhut Jolokia (Bhut = 'ghost', probably due to its ghostly bite or introduction by the Bhutias from Bhutan poison chili), Oo-Morok in Manipur (Oo = 'Tree', 'Oo' pronounced as in Book, Morok = 'Chilli'), Borbih Jolokia, Nagahari, Nagajolokia, Naga Moresh and Raja Mirchi ('King of Chillies'). Regardless of the nomenclature, they all refer to the same plant. The word Naga, meaning "cobra snake" in Sanskrit, stems from Nagaland and the Naga Community.

A ripe Bhut Jolokia pepper approximately measures 60 mm (2.4 in) to 85 mm (3.3 in) long and 25 mm (1.0 in) to 30 mm (1.2 in) wide with an orange or red color. They are similar in appearance to the Habanero pepper, but have a rougher, dented skin - a main characteristic of the Naga.

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The Scoville Scale is a measure of the hotness or piquancy of a chili pepper, as defined by the amount of capsaicin, (a chemical compound which stimulates nerve endings in the skin) present. Some hot sauces use their Scoville rating in advertising as a selling point. The scale is named after it's creator, American chemist Wilbur Scoville, who developed a test for rating the pungency of chili peppers. His method, which he devised in 1912, is known as the Scoville Organoleptic Test. An alternative method for quantitative analysis uses high-performance liquid chromatography, making it possible to directly measure the capsaicinoid content.

In 2000, scientists at India's Defence Research Laboratory (DRL) reported a rating of 855,000 units on the Scoville scale, and in 2004 an Indian company obtained a rating of 1,041,427 units through HPLC analysis. This makes it almost twice as hot as the Red Savina pepper. For comparison, pure capsaicin rates at 15,000,000-16,000,000 Scoville units.

In 2005 at New Mexico State University Chile Pepper Institute near Las Cruces, New Mexico, Regents Professor Paul Bosland found Naga Jolokia grown from seed in southern New Mexico to have a Scoville rating of 1,001,304 SHU by HPLC.

In February 2007, Guinness World Records certified the Bhut Jolokia (Prof. Bosland's preferred name for the pepper) as the world's hottest chili pepper.

The effect of climate on the Scoville rating of Naga Jolokia peppers is dramatic. A 2005 Indian study that compared the percentage availability of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in Naga Jolokia peppers grown in both Tezpur (Assam) and Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) showed that the heat of the pepper is decreased by over 50% in Gwalior's more arid climate (similar temperatures but less humid, much lower rainfall).

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We were fortunate to get a healthy plant that grew so hearty indoors. We kept it by a window that let in a lot of sun and in early May it seemed that the chilly weather did not want to leave. We kept waiting for the weather to warm up throughout most of May, and just when we thought it was finally going to warm up enough to take the plant outside, the weather report would predict another cold spell for another few days. This chilly weather continued until very late May when we were finally able to safely take the pepper plant outside.

The reason we had to wait until late May was because we hardly had any spring in the Midwest region of the United States, especially here in Chicago. The cold weather slowed down a lot of the outdoor planting of our vegetables and annuals. But once the plant was outside it thrived and started to bloom.