Wilbur Scoville
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HISTORY
HOT
GROWING
RECIPES
Chile Scoville Range
Sweet Bell 0
Pimento 0
Cherry 00 ~ 500
Pepperoncini 100 ~ 500
El-Paso 500 ~ 700
Santa Fe Grande 500 ~ 750
Coronado 700 ~ 1,000
Espanola 1,000 ~ 2,000
Poblano 1,000 ~ 2,000
Ancho 1,000 ~ 2,000
Mulato 1,000 ~ 2,000
Pasilla 1,000 ~ 2,000
Anaheim 500 ~ 2,500
Sandia 500 ~ 2,500
NuMex Big Jim 500 ~ 2,500
Rocotillo 1,500 ~ 2,500
Pulla 700 ~ 3,000
Mirasol 2,500 ~ 5,000
Guajillo 2,500 ~ 5,000
Jalapeno 2,500 ~ 8,000
Chipolte 5,000 ~ 8,000
Hot Wax 5,000 ~ 10,000
Puya 5,000 ~ 10,000
Hidalgo 6,000 ~ 17,000
Serrano 8,000 ~ 22,000
Manzano 12,000 ~ 30,000
Shipkas 12,000 ~ 30,000
De Arbol 15,000 ~ 30,000
Jaloro 30,000 ~ 50,000
Aji 30,000 ~ 50,000
Tabasco 30,000 ~ 50,000
Cayenne 30,000 ~ 50,000
Santaka 40,000 ~ 50,000
Super Chile 40,000 ~ 50,000
Piquin 40,000 ~ 58,000
Yatsafusa 50,000 ~ 75,000
Haimen 70,000 ~ 80,000
Chiltecpin 60,000 ~ 85,000
Thai 50,000 ~ 100,000
Tabiche 85,000 ~ 115,000
Bahamian 95,000 ~ 110,000
Carolina Cayenne 100,000 ~ 125,000
Kumataka 125,000 ~ 150,000
Jamaican Hot 100,000 ~ 200,000
Birds Eye 100,000 ~ 225,000
Habanero 100,000 ~ 325,000
Scotch Bonnet 150,000 ~ 325,000
Red Savina Habanero 350,000 ~ 577,000
Pure Capsaicin 15-16,000,000
Table likeness and Scoville Units (Nearman, 2004).

There are a great variety of chiles available today. They range from the mildest bell pepper to the extremely hot Red Savina Habanero. The heat level of chiles is measured in Scoville units. What are Scoville units you may ask? In 1912 Wilbur Scoville was a chemist working for the Parke-Davis pharmaceutical company. He developed a method to test the heat intesity of chiles called the Scoville Organoleptic Test. It was a subjective test where panelists were given a mixture of chile powder and sugar water. They sipped the solution in increasingly dilluted concentrations until it no longer burned their mouth's. A number was then given to each chile based on how much it needed to be dilluted before it no longer burned the tester's mouth (Nearman, 2004). Of course, this is not a very accurate test since people have different tolerance levels to spicy foods.

Today, the heat intesity of chiles is measured with a more scientific method called High Performance Liquid Chromatography. This procedure measures the actual Capsaicin levels in the chiles. Capsaicin is the chemical compound which gives chiles their hot flavor. The unit of measure used in the new procedure is still called the Scoville unit (Nearman, 2004).

Sweet Peppers
Bell Pepperoncini Pimento
bellpepper pepperoncini pimento
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Mild Peppers
Anaheim Ancho Poblano
anaheim ancho poblano
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Medium Peppers
Guajillo Jalapeno Mirasol
guajillo jalapeno mirasol
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Hot Peppers
Cayenne Serrano Tabasco
cayenne serrano tabasco
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Very Hot Peppers
Red Savina Habanero Thai Chiltecpin
red savina habanero thai chiltecpin
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