The Naga Viper pepper was the official holder of the Guinness World Records "World's Hottest Chilli" record as of 25 February 2011.[1] The Naga Viper pepper, with its rating of 1,382,118 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), beat the previous record holder, the Infinity Chilli.[2] The pepper's record has been exceeded by the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper, and verified by Guinness World Records as of 1 March 2011. In comparison, a jalapeño pepper measures between 2,500 and 8,000 SHU on the same scale.
The Naga Viper was created in England by chilli farmer Gerald Fowler of The Chilli Pepper Company, based in Cark, Cumbria.[3] It is an unstable three-way hybrid produced from the Naga Morich, the Bhut Jolokia and the Trinidad Scorpion (some of the world's hottest peppers).[4] Due to its hybrid nature, it is unable to produce offspring exactly like the parent due to segregation of alleles and therefore traits. The Chilli Pepper Company is continuing its work to stabilize the variety.