Chilly Scovilln Scale And Mexican Indian Chilli Varities
Aji is South American term in used for chilli. It is one of the hottest flavored chile pepper. Generally, aji is bright yellow, red, orange, or purple in color. It is also called as "Yellow Chile" or "Yellow Peruvian chile."
Anaheim peppers are blunt nosed, long and narrow with green or reddish color. Anaheim is available in Mexico. The pungency of Anaheim depends on where they are grown; however, they are moderately hot.
Bell peppers are mild in pungency and originated about 5000 B.C. from South America . Bell peppers are received their name from the bell shape and available in bright colors of green, red, orange, yellow, purple, brown and black. The green and orange bell peppers are bitter to taste. Red and yellow peppers are sweet and tangy to taste.
Also called "Bola Chile ," cascabel chillies are dried form of bolita chillies. Cascabel is a Spanish word which means "round bells" or "rattle" found in MichoacÃ¡n in Mexico . Cascabel fruit is round and brown or red in color with mild to medium in pungency.
Cayenne chilli has been cultivated and included in food from as far as 4,000 years ago. Columbus brought Cayenne to Portugal . Cayenne is long and slender in shape with dark green color which matures to bright red. It extremely pungent to taste and used widely in India and other Asian countries. The red Cayennes are used to make chilli powder. There are many varieties of cayenne including hot Portugal , large red thick, long red slim, ring of fire, super cayenne, and a relatively new Charleston Hot. The Charleston hot cayenne is considered to be extremely pungent and has attractive fruit.
Chiltepin or Piquin
Chiltepin got its name from the Nahuatl Mexican language "Chilli" and "tecpintl" meaning "flea chilli." It is believed to be the oldest and original form of all the chilli species available now. Chiltepin has tiny round shaped fruit and are extremely hot in pungency. It is also known as "Chiltecpin" or "Tepin."
Habanero chillies in Spanish means "the one from Havana " though not used in Havana . Habanero is commonly used in Mexico and Yucatan and considered hottest chilli. The fruits of Habanero are yellow, red, or white in color. The chilli pods of red savina habanero chilli are considered as hottest in the world which may even cause tongue blistering if eaten.
Named after the city Xalapa of Mexico, Jalapenos are extremely popular in Mexico and USA . Jalapenos are cylindrical, oval shaped with very thick flesh with green color which turns in to red color when ripe. The thick outer part of Jalapeno chilli conceals the pungency of inside. The Mexican cuisine includes "chipotle" which is smoked and dried Jalapenos.
Mirasol are extremely beautiful to look at with its rich smooth shinning red skin, oval shaped with high pungency. When dried it become red chilli known as "guajillo" or "puya." The dried mirasol which has medium pungency.
Paprika belongs to Capsicum annum originated from Mexico and used widely in America , California , Spain , and Hungary . The paprika is usually dried and grinded to give seasoning powder having pungent sweet smelling characteristic. The bright red round or elongated shaped fruit of paprika varies in pungency from mild to hot and used extensively in Hungarian cuisine.
Pasilla chilli is long thin, with green color which turns dark brown when matures and when dried has raisin-texture. The ripe pasilla is called as "Chilaca" or "Chiles Negro" and is available in Mexico . The pungency of pasilla is from mild to medium.
The Spanish paprika is called as pimento chilli. They are also called cherry pepper as the fruit is large heart-shaped red pepper with sweet, aromatic, and succulent fruit. The pimentos are extremely mild in pungency and are stuffed in green olives.
The poblano chillies mean "pepper from Pueblo " since the poblano originated from Pueblo in Mexico . Poblano chillies are heart-shaped green in color when unripe and turns red or brown when ripens. The pungency ranges from mild to moderate. The dried poblanos are called with two different names Mulato and Ancho. The mulatos are sweeter than ancho.
Scot's Bonnet or Scotch Bonnet
Closely related to Jamaican hot and habanero, these chillies are equally hot in pungency. Scotch bonnet or Scot's bonnet are irregular in shape with yellow, orange, or red color. It is used frequently in Jamaican cuisine. Scotch bonnet chillies are so hot that when taken will cause blisters to the tongue, dizziness, and severe heartburn.
Serrano chillies means highland or mountain are small, round in shape with slight pointed at the end. Serrano chillies originated from the foothills of Puebla in Mexico. They are smooth dark green when unripe and turns scarlet red, brown, orange, and then
is used to determine the pungency of the chilli. The Scoville Organoleptic Test was invented by a pharmacist, WilburÂ L.Â Scoville, in 1912 while working in Parke Davis Pharmaceutical Company. Since that time, this method of measuring the pungent property of chilli is now used widely across the world as it was found to be systematic in approach.
Basically the pungency of the chilli depends on the location in which chilli is grown and the genetic structure of the chilli. The pungency of the chilli is due to the capsaicin, a chemical compound found in placenta of the chilli. Capsaicin stimulates the nerve endings in the tongue which transmits to brain making the body release endorphin.
Wilbur Scoville tried many different methods to measure the pungency of the chilli, but he found that the readings were not precise and consistent. He tried to mix the chilli extract with different chemical but was not successful. He found that subjective test were more successful. The tongue being sensitive reacted to the pungency of the chilli. He soaked the chilli in alcohol. The capsaicin is soluble in alcohol.
The quantity of the soaked extract is noted. Water mixed with sugar is added to the extract and given to the human subjects to taste the sample for pungency. Usually, there are five people who taste the sample. To achieve the rating, three people out of five must agree on the taste. If there is still pungency found, then the samples are further diluted with solution of alcohol and sweetened water until there is no heat felt by the tasters.
High Performance Liquid Chromatograph
The Scoville test is now done by High Performance Liquid Chromatograph, a modern machine which has replaced the human tasters. This machine is very sensitive to pungency of the chilli just like the human tongue. In this method, the capsaicin is extracted from the dried and grounded chilli pods. The sample is injected to HPLC machine to detect the pungency. The test done by high performance liquid chromatograph is less time consuming, inexpensive, and eliminates inaccuracy.
The ratio of dilution is considered as Scoville Unit. For example, the bell pepper has zero in the scale of Scoville scale. Given below are some of the examples for varieties of chillies :
- Pure Capsaicin----------16,000,000
- Naga Jolokia -------------- 855,000
- Red Savina Habanero------580,000
- Red Habanero ------------- 150,000
- Tabasco --------------------120,000
- Tepin------------------------ 75,000
- Chiltepin -------------------- 70,000
- Thai Hot --------------------- 60,000
- Jalapeno M ----------------- Â 25,000
- Aji Escabeche----------------17,000
- Cayenne ----------------------8,500
- Pasilla ------------------------ 5,500
- Mulato -------------------------1,000
- Bell Pepper------------------------ 0
The Mexican chilli Red Savina Habanero was considered as hottest chilli with 557,000 Scoville units. The hottest chilli on earth is found in India. The Naga Jolokia or also called "Tezpur Chilli" has been proved by the scientists are the hottest chilli in the world with 8,55,000 Scoville units.
Birdseye or Dhani Chillies
Birdseye is also called as African Devil Chile. Birdseye chilli is tiny, green and when matured the color changes to bright red. The pungency varies from the place and environmental condition is receives. It is widely available in African countries like Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Malawi and also in other countries including India, China, Mexico, and Papua New Guinea .
Byadagi or Kaddi Chillies
Byadagi chillies are grown in Goa and Dharwar in Karnataka. These chillies are also called Kaddi chillies and when dried, the skin is wrinkled red in color with aromatic mild pungency. The harvesting season of these chillies are from January to May.
Ellachipur Sanman Chillies
Ellachipur Sannam chillies are found in Amravati district, Maharashtra . The ellachipur chillies are dark red in color when in dry state with very hot pungency. The best time to grow is from September to December.
Guntur Sanman Chillies
Guntur Sanman Chillies are cultivated in Guntur , Warangal , Khamman district of Andra Pradesh. The Guntur chillies are long with thick red skin with very high pungency. The best times to harvest these chillies are from December to May.
The most popular form of chilli in India , Jwala, is long, slender with when unripe has green color and turns to red in ripe stage. Jwala means "Volcano" in Hindi and are extremely pungent. Jwala is found in Kheda and Mehsana in Gujarat .
One of much in demand chilli in India is Kashmiri Mirch. Though there is lot of wrong claims, the true Kashmir Mirch is grown in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir . It has smooth shinning skin and fleshy with dark red in color. They are mild in pungency and have a fruit like flavor.
Mundu Chillies or Gundu Molzuka
Mundu chillies are found in Tamil Nadu and Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh. They are roundish fruit with moderately pungent with yellowish red color. Mundu is popularly called as 'Gundu Molzuka' meaning 'fat chilli' in Tamil Nadu.
Nalcheti chillies are grown in Nagpur , Maharashtra . The Nalcheti chillies are long, red in color when dried with high pungency.Â Â
Tomato Chilli or Warangal Chappatta
Tomato chillies are found in Warangal , Khamman, and Godavari district of Andra Pradesh. These chllies are short, dark red in color when dried with moderate pungency.