Dragon's Breath (chili pepper)

Dragon's Breath is a chili pepper cultivar that unofficially tested at 2.48 million Scoville units.

Dragon's Breath
SpeciesCapsicum chinense
BreederNeal Price
OriginDenbighshire and Nottingham, United Kingdom
Heat Exceptionally hot
Scoville scale2,480,000[1] SHU

Development

The plant was developed in a collaboration between chili farmer Neal Price, NPK Technology, and Nottingham Trent University during a test of a special plant food and for its essential oil having potential as a skin anesthetic.[2][3][4] The Dragon's Breath plant was later cultivated by breeder Mike Smith of St Asaph, Denbighshire, Wales, who said that he had not planned to breed the chili for record heat, but rather was trying to grow an attractive pepper plant.[5] Due to the nationality of the farmer who cultivated the pepper in Wales, it was named Dragon's Breath after the Welsh dragon.[6] It was entered in the Plant of the Year contest at the 2017 Chelsea Flower Show where it was on the short list, but did not place.[2][5][7]

Heat

The Dragon's Breath chili was unofficially tested at 2.48 million Scoville units making it a contender for the hottest chili pepper in the world.[3][4] Guinness World Records has so far not recognized this claim, as the Carolina Reaper is still mentioned as the current record holder.[8] It was allegedly surpassed several months later by Pepper X at 3.18 million Scoville units, but this is also unconfirmed.[9][10]

Nottingham Trent University researchers suggest that the pepper's ability to numb the skin could make its essential oil useful as an anaesthetic for patients who cannot tolerate other anaesthetics, or in countries where they are too expensive.[5][6] Experts at the university warned that swallowing one might cause death by choking or anaphylactic shock;[5][6] one science writer noted that this was a standard warning that applied only to those with relevant allergies.[4]

See also

References
  1. Geggel, Laura (19 May 2017). "Superhot 'Dragon's Breath' Chili Pepper Can Kill. Here's How". Live Science. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  2. "'World's hottest' chilli pepper grown in St Asaph". BBC News North East Wales. 17 May 2017.
  3. Shanika Gunaratna (22 May 2017). "The hottest pepper in the world? Beware the 'Dragon's Breath'". CBS news.
  4. Jake Buehler (19 May 2017). "'World's Hottest Pepper' Will Have You Breathing Fire, But It Won't Kill You". Gizmodo.
  5. Henry Bodkin (17 May 2017). "Hottest chilli pepper in the world accidentally created by Welsh farmer". The Daily Telegraph.
  6. Marc Waddington (17 May 2017) [16 May 2017]. "St Asaph man develops weapons-grade chilli so hot it could KILL you". Daily Post.
  7. "Plant of the Year". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  8. Ligaya Mishan (18 August 2022). "How the Chile Became Hot". New York Times. Retrieved 1 September 2022. Carolina Reaper, known to reach as many as 2.2 million S.H.U.s — more potent than some pepper sprays — and certified by Guinness World Records as the hottest chile on earth.
  9. Elizabeth Licata (23 September 2017). "Pepper X is the new hottest pepper in the world". Los Angeles Times (The Daily Meal). Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  10. Mike Hultquist (23 February 2018). "Pepper X – Latest News and Information". Chili Pepper Madness. Retrieved 21 January 2019.

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