Scoville Scale: Have you ever wondered how the burning taste that chili leaves in your mouth is measured? The spiciness of chili is not judged just by taste, but by a scientific scale, which we know as the 'Scoville Scale'.

This scale measures the spiciness of chili in a unit and tells how much amount of an element called Capsaicin is there in a chili, which works to burn your mouth. Let us tell you, the Scoville scale is a scientific scale, which is used to measure the spiciness of spicy food.

It was developed by American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912. In this scale, spiciness is measured based on the amount of an element called Capsaicin present inside the chilies. Let us know about it in detail.

How is the spiciness of chili measured?

Scoville Organoleptic Test is done to measure the spiciness of chili. In this, the extract of chili is mixed in water, and then a team sitting in the panel tests how much amount of water is added so that the spiciness of that chili is not felt. The more water is required, the more spicy the chili is.

Scoville rating of some famous chilies
Bell Pepper – 0 SHU (Scoville Heat Units)
This is the mildest chilli, which has no spiciness.

Jalapeño – 3,500–8,000 SHU
This chilli is also very popular in Indian food, and its spiciness is of medium level.

Habanero – 100,000–350,000 SHU
This chilli is very spicy and eating it can be quite challenging.

Carolina Reaper – 1,400,000–2,200,000 SHU
It is considered to be the hottest chili pepper in the world, which is extremely spicy.

Pepper X – 3,180,000 SHU
Pepper X is considered to be the hottest chili pepper ever measured and its name is also recorded in the Guinness World Records.

Helpful in understanding spice tolerance
The Scoville Scale not only measures the spiciness of chilies, but it also tells how much of any chili pepper can be safely eaten. If you like hot peppers, then the Scoville Scale helps you know which pepper will be better according to your taste and spice tolerance.

PC Social media