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Scoville Chart

Thirty chile peppers measured in Scoville heat units, from the sweet bell at zero to Pepper X at 2.69 million. Compare any two, turn SHU into capsaicin content, and see where the heat sits inside a pod and what makes it hotter.

Figure 1. The Scoville Chart poster ranks 30 chile peppers from 0 to 2,693,000 SHU on a log scale, with the record holders, how heat is measured and where it sits. Select it to open full size, then zoom in.

Contents

  1. 1Thirty peppers on one heat ladder
  2. 2How much hotter one pepper is
  3. 3The record holders
  4. 4What a Scoville unit measures
  5. 5Where the heat sits in a pod
  6. 6Five domesticated species
  7. 7Cooling the burn
  8. 8Growing for heat
  9. Sources and notes

1.Thirty peppers on one heat ladder

Each bar spans a pepper’s published range in Scoville heat units (SHU), on a log scale where every gridline is ten times hotter than the one before. The ring marks the midpoint on that scale; a diamond is a single laboratory result, such as a record test. Three reference points that are not peppers sit in their places for scale. Filter by species or by how the pepper is usually used.

Species
Use

Showing 30 peppers, mildest first; the hottest shown is Pepper X at 2,693,000 SHU.

Bell pepper

Bell pepper

C. annuum · fresh, roasting, stuffing
0no heat
Pimiento pepper

Pimiento

C. annuum · roasting, stuffing, pickling
0–500midpoint 250
Banana pepper

Banana pepper

C. annuum · pickling, fresh
0–500midpoint 250
Cubanelle pepper

Cubanelle

C. annuum · roasting, fresh
500–1,000midpoint 710
Anaheim pepper

Anaheim

C. annuum · roasting, stuffing
500–2,500midpoint 1,100
Poblano pepper

Poblano

C. annuum · roasting, stuffing, drying
1,000–2,500midpoint 1,600

TABASCO Original Red sauce

Bottled sauce: the peppers are diluted with vinegar and salt
2,500–5,000reference point
Hungarian wax pepper

Hungarian wax

C. annuum · pickling, stuffing
1,000–15,000midpoint 3,900
Jalapeño pepper

Jalapeño

C. annuum · fresh, pickling, stuffing
2,500–8,000midpoint 4,500
Fresno pepper

Fresno

C. annuum · fresh, hot sauce
2,500–10,000midpoint 5,000
Serrano pepper

Serrano

C. annuum · fresh, hot sauce
10,000–25,000midpoint 16,000
Chile de árbol pepper

Chile de árbol

C. annuum · drying, hot sauce
15,000–30,000midpoint 21,000
Rocoto pepper

Rocoto

C. pubescens · stuffing, fresh
2,400–250,000midpoint 24,000
Cayenne pepper

Cayenne

C. annuum · drying, hot sauce
25,000–50,000midpoint 35,000
Tabasco pepper

Tabasco

C. frutescens · hot sauce
25,000–50,000midpoint 35,000
Ají amarillo pepper

Ají amarillo

C. baccatum · fresh, hot sauce
30,000–50,000midpoint 39,000
Chiltepin pepper

Chiltepin

C. annuum · drying
20,000–140,000midpoint 53,000
Thai chili pepper

Thai chili

C. annuum · fresh, drying, hot sauce
50,000–100,000midpoint 71,000
Scotch bonnet pepper

Scotch bonnet

C. chinense · hot sauce, fresh
100,000–350,000midpoint 190,000
Habanero pepper

Habanero

C. chinense · hot sauce, fresh
100,000–350,000midpoint 190,000
Red Savina pepper

Red Savina

C. chinense · Guinness record 1994
248,556–577,000midpoint 380,000
Chocolate habanero pepper

Chocolate habanero

C. chinense · hot sauce
425,000–577,000midpoint 500,000
7 Pot pepper

7 Pot

C. chinense · hot sauce
780,000–1,060,000midpoint 910,000
Ghost pepper

Ghost pepper

C. chinense · Guinness record 2007
855,000–1,040,000midpoint 940,000
Trinidad Scorpion pepper

Trinidad Scorpion

C. chinense · hot sauce
1,030,000–1,500,000midpoint 1,200,000
Naga Viper pepper

Naga Viper

C. chinense · Guinness record 2011
1,382,118single test
Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper

Trinidad Scorpion Butch T

C. chinense · Guinness record 2011
1,463,700single test
Chocolate 7 Pot pepper

Chocolate 7 Pot

C. chinense · hot sauce
1,170,000–1,800,000midpoint 1,500,000
Carolina Reaper pepper

Carolina Reaper

C. chinense · Guinness record 2013
1,569,300–1,641,183midpoint 1,600,000
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper

Trinidad Moruga Scorpion

C. chinense · hot sauce
1,200,000–2,009,231midpoint 1,600,000

Police pepper spray

Strength depends on how the extract is diluted
500,000–5,000,000reference point
Pepper X

Pepper X

C. chinense · Guinness record 2023
2,693,000single test

Pure capsaicin

The top of the Scoville scale for capsaicinoids
16,000,000reference point
published range and its midpointsingle testreference point, not a pepperPods are not to scale.

Bands on this chart: sweet under 500 SHU, mild 500–2,500, medium 2,500–25,000, hot 25,000–100,000, very hot 100,000–350,000, extreme 350,000–1,000,000 and superhot above 1 million. Ranges vary between sources and with variety, growing conditions and ripeness.

2.How much hotter one pepper is

Because the scale is a ratio scale, “times hotter” is the natural way to compare two peppers. The figure uses the midpoints on the log scale; the note below gives the spread you might meet across the two published ranges.

Jalapeño pepper
Jalapeño2,500–8,000 SHU
Carolina Reaper pepper
Carolina Reaper1,569,300–1,641,183 SHU

A Carolina Reaper is about 360 times hotter than a jalapeño.

Across the published ranges the gap runs from about 200 to 660 times.

3.The record holders

Guinness World Records has named seven different peppers the world’s hottest since 1994. Breeders now cross the hottest lines over many generations; Ed Currie of South Carolina bred both of the last two title holders.

Guinness World Records hottest chili pepper titles
YearPepperHeatSHU
1994Red SavinaRecord held until 2006; never independently confirmed577,000
2007Ghost pepperFirst certified pepper above 1 million SHU1,001,304
2011InfinityBred in England by Nick Woods1,176,182
2011Naga ViperBred in England by Gerald Fowler1,382,118
2011Trinidad Scorpion Butch THeld the title until 20131,463,700
2013Carolina ReaperBred by Ed Currie, South Carolina1,569,300
2023Pepper XAlso bred by Ed Currie; tested at Winthrop University2,693,000

Guinness World Records titles. NMSU measured one Trinidad Moruga Scorpion plant above 2,000,000 SHU in 2012, but that was a study result, not a Guinness title.

4.What a Scoville unit measures

The scale began as a taste test and became a laboratory measurement, but the unit kept its name.

1912: the dilution test

  1. Wilbur Scoville, a pharmacist, soaked dried pepper in alcohol to pull out the heat.
  2. He diluted the extract in sugar water, step by step, and gave it to a panel of five tasters.
  3. When most of them could no longer feel any heat, the dilution factor became the rating: a 5,000 SHU pepper still tastes hot at one part extract in 5,000 parts sugar water.

Tasters tire and differ, so results from different labs could disagree by up to about ±50%.

Today: a laboratory measurement

Since the 1980s labs measure capsaicinoids with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), in parts per million (ppm) of dried pepper. Multiplying by 15 (the American Spice Trade Association convention) or by 16 turns ppm into SHU. Pure capsaicin rates 16,000,000 SHU.

More than 22 capsaicinoids are known. In a typical pod capsaicin makes up about 69% of the total and dihydrocapsaicin about 22%.

Capsaicin works on TRPV1, the nerve receptor that also senses heat above about 43°C (109°F), which is why it feels like burning. Birds lack that response, eat the pods and spread the seeds.

SHU and capsaicin converter

SHU
Capsaicinoids
281 ppm
Share of the dried pod
0.03%
Dilution in the 1912 test
1 part in 4,500 parts
Compared with pure capsaicin
1/3,556 of its strength
Heat band on this chart
Medium

HPLC reports parts per million of the dried pod; the factor of 16 turns that into SHU.

5.Where the heat sits in a pod

Capsaicin is made in the placenta, the pale pith that holds the seeds, and most of it stays there and in the ribs. Select a numbered part on the halved jalapeño, or a name in the list.

A green jalapeño cut lengthwise, cut face up: a dark green skin rim, pale green flesh walls, a cream placenta at the stem end covered in seeds, and pale ribs running towards the tip

Figure 2. A jalapeño cut lengthwise. From most heat to least: placenta, ribs, seeds by contact, then the walls.

6.Five domesticated species

About 26 wild Capsicum species are known, and five were domesticated. Almost every superhot belongs to Capsicum chinense, while most garden peppers, sweet or hot, are Capsicum annuum.

A green jalapeño beside a small white pepper flower

Capsicum annuum

Most grown species: sweet bells, jalapeño, cayenne, poblano, Thai chili

Includes both sweet and hot peppers.

14 on this chart: Bell pepper, Pimiento, Banana pepper, Cubanelle, Anaheim, Poblano, Hungarian wax, Jalapeño, Fresno, Serrano, Chile de árbol, Cayenne, Thai chili, Chiltepin

An orange habanero beside a greenish-white pepper flower

Capsicum chinense

Habanero, Scotch bonnet and every superhot on this chart

From the Amazon basin; fruity aroma.

13 on this chart: Scotch bonnet, Habanero, Red Savina, Chocolate habanero, Ghost pepper, Trinidad Scorpion, 7 Pot, Chocolate 7 Pot, Naga Viper, Trinidad Scorpion Butch T, Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Pepper X

A slim red tabasco pepper beside a greenish-white flower

Capsicum frutescens

Tabasco and siling labuyo

Small pods that point upward.

1 on this chart: Tabasco

An orange ají amarillo beside a cream flower with gold spots

Capsicum baccatum

Ají amarillo, lemon drop, bishop’s crown

Cream flowers with green or gold spots.

1 on this chart: Ají amarillo

A round red rocoto beside a purple pepper flower

Capsicum pubescens

Rocoto (manzano)

Black seeds, hairy leaves, purple flowers; likes it cool.

1 on this chart: Rocoto

7.Cooling the burn

In a 2019 Penn State taste panel, 72 adults sipped a spicy Bloody Mary mix and then one of seven drinks, rating the burn every 10 seconds for two minutes. Every drink helped a little; milk and a sugary drink helped most.

Drinks tested, grouped by how well they cut the burn
DrinkResult
Whole milklargest drop in burn
Skim milklargest drop in burn
Kool-Aid (sugar drink)largest drop in burn
Watersmallest drop in burn
Seltzersmallest drop in burn
Colasmallest drop in burn
Non-alcoholic beersmallest drop in burn
  • Why milk worksSkim milk worked as well as whole milk, so protein matters more than fat; sugar also helped. Capsaicin barely dissolves in water (about 0.0013 g per 100 mL).
  • Water spreads it aroundCapsaicin barely dissolves in water, so a glass of water rinses little of it away; in the study water and fizzy drinks did least.
  • Handle hot pods with careWear gloves to cut hot peppers, keep hands away from eyes, and wash with dish soap afterwards.
  • Cut the heat before cookingRemoving the placenta and ribs takes out most of the capsaicin.

8.Growing for heat

Genes set the range, but the garden decides where in that range a pod lands. Two plants of the same variety, or two pods on one plant, can differ a great deal.

A young cayenne pepper plant in a straw-mulched garden bed, with slim red and ripening pods hanging among the leaves
Figure 3. Pods ripen from green to red; ripe pods carry more capsaicin.
  • Stress raises heatHeat and drought push plants to make more capsaicin; lean soil and sparse watering give hotter pods.
  • Ripe pods are hotterChiles build capsaicin (and sugar) as they turn from green to their ripe colour.
  • No two pods matchThe same variety varies from plant to plant and even pod to pod; up to about tenfold with conditions.
  • Warm days, warm nightsBest at 70–85°F by day and 60–70°F at night; plant out after frost.
  • Sun and spaceAt least 6 hours of sun; about 18 in between plants.
  • Harvest70–85 days after transplanting; pick green or let pods ripen to colour.

Sources and notes

Scoville figures are published ranges, and they differ between sources and from pod to pod. Where sources disagree, this chart shows the range from the source named in each row’s note; midpoints are geometric means of the range. Records are Guinness World Records titles. This page is for general information about food and gardening.

  1. Penn State Extension: Growing Hot Peppers: Can You Make Them Hotter? (extension.psu.edu)
  2. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach: Growing Peppers in the Home Garden (yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu)
  3. Clemson Cooperative Extension Home & Garden Information Center: Pepper (hgic.clemson.edu)
  4. Texas AgriLife Extension, J. Masabni: Jalapeño & Other Hot Peppers (aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu)
  5. UC Cooperative Extension Master Food Preservers of El Dorado County: Some Like it Hot! (or Not) Preserving Peppers, 2024 (ucanr.edu)
  6. New Mexico State University Chile Pepper Institute: Heat (cpi.nmsu.edu)
  7. NMSU Chile Pepper Institute super-hot study, 2012, as reported by Growing Produce: The Hottest Pepper On Earth
  8. NMSU Cooperative Extension Guide H-237: Measuring Chile Pepper Heat (pubs.nmsu.edu)
  9. Guinness World Records: Pepper X dethrones Carolina Reaper as world’s hottest chilli pepper, 16 Oct 2023
  10. Nolden, Lenart and Hayes (2019), Putting out the fire: efficacy of common beverages in reducing oral burn from capsaicin, Physiology & Behavior; Penn State release via ScienceDaily, 25 Jun 2019
  11. McIlhenny Company: TABASCO Original Red Sauce product page (tabasco.com)
  12. Wikipedia articles: Scoville scale; Hottest chili pepper; Capsaicin; and the individual pepper and Capsicum species articles cited per row