Pepper X Dethrones Carolina Reaper as Hottest Chili Pepper in the World, Says Guinness World Records

Move over, Caroline Reaper, we have a new "Hottest Pepper in the World," as the Guinness Book of World Records declared and recognized that Pepper X is now officially the world's hottest chili pepper.

Pepper X has been described as a chili pepper that emits an "immediate and brutal heat" and that it is much hotter than the previous record holder, the Carolina Reaper. This chili pepper has just been made through genetics, and it now joins the ranks of the hottest chili peppers on earth, including the Trinidad Scorpion, the Ghost Pepper, and the Carolina Reaper.

PuckerButt Pepper Co. founder and pepper expert Ed Currie developed this new plant. He spent the last 10 years working on this new "Hottest Chili Pepper in the World."

According to USA Today, he spent five of those years proving that his creation is a different plant with different fruits.

"We covered the genetics, we covered the chemistry, we covered the botany," he said as he talked about Pepper X. It was then confirmed as the hottest chili pepper by Guinness World Records on October 9.

Pepper X Is 3 Times Hotter Than the Carolina Reaper

To determine how hot a chili pepper is, the Scoville Scale is used. It measures the concentration of a pepper's capsaicinoids, which gives the peppers their heat. Scoville Heat Units (SHUs) are used as the units of measurement for how hot a pepper is. An example would be the jalapeño, which clocks in at 2,000 to 8,000 SHUs.

The jalapeño, while spicy to many who do not enjoy heat as much, is still considered "mild" by many chili heads. However, the serrano pepper comes in between 10,000 and 23,000 SHUs and may be a better way to scope out just how hot Pepper X is.

The Serrano is one of the most popular peppers in the world, originating in Mexico, but its hotness is dwarfed by the Carolina Reaper, which has an average of 1.64 million SHUs.

While the Carolina Reaper, which was also developed by Ed Curie, enjoyed several years at the top, it does not compare to this new hottest pepper, as Pepper X comes in at a whopping 2.693 million SHUs.

Curie, who developed both peppers, claims that Pepper X is three times hotter than his previous creation, adding, "There's an intense burn that happens immediately. Then your head kind of feels like, 'Oh no! What's going on?' And then your body just starts reacting. You get it in your arms, you get it in your chest."

Ed Curie Started Growing Chili Peppers as a Hobby Before Developing Pepper X and Carolina Reaper

Ed Curie has already broken the Guinness World Record for "Hottest Chili Pepper in the World" multiple times with his creations, with Pepper X just the latest to come from his works.

However, he only started this journey as a hobby, as CBS News reported. These days, he is now cultivating peppers full-time and has raised 800 hot pepper plants "in every inch of his home and the homes of family, friends and neighbors" in the 1990s. He is now working on a new pepper that might break the Guinness World Record again.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Pepper X: Sean Evans, Chili Klaus & Smokin' Ed Currie Eat the New World's Hottest Pepper | Hot Ones - First We Feast