IIRC the Scoville Heat Unit is “equivalent parts per million capsaicin” - so it’s already considerably hotter than pure capsaicin is (there are spicier molecules available).

I thought it was 16 million, not 1 million, so it's still not quite there yet.

You’re mistaken. Pure capsaicin is 16 million SHU. I can’t remember the exact details of how the SHU is defined, but IIRC it’s related to the number of times a substance (having been dissolved in alcohol) would have to be diluted in a solution of sugar water before the pungency is undetectable.

It's the dilution until pungency equals that of water / cannot be detected by a taste panel.

As Ed explains at 5:40 in the video [1] above, they use a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) test [2] rather than a subjective taste panel now.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale

Pure capsaicin is 16m Scoville. Not aware of any peppers using chemicals other than capsaicin, though you are correct that other chemicals supersede capsaicin on the Scoville scale.

In the hot ones video the breeder said that there are indeed other capsinoids present and that it is key to the experience.

Obviously he does have an incentive to say that! But when someone says "no, plant chemistry is more complicated than that" I'm normally inclined to believe them!

Does this mean that the highest any new "hot pepper" can ever get to is 16m Scoville?

There is a euphorbia (a hoodia? can't recall reference) with a chemical 500 times stronger than capsaicin. IIRC so strong it destroys the receptor.

Anyone have a ref while I paw through my memory slowly?

Bonus: RTX has also previously been investigated as a treatment for lifelong premature ejaculation (PE).. Volunteers for clinical trials, anyone?

Jesus. I hope that's administered while you're in an induced coma.

Someone actually concentrated and taste tested some of this in a fairly scientific process, and it actually didn't end up being as hot as expected. iirc the molecule is too big to properly bind to receptors the way capsaicin can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPe2bssalOY

I find it extremely appropriate that high concentrations of capsaicin in a chili manifest as little pointy spikes, which is why anything from a ghost pepper and up looks extremely mean.

Yes indeed, these things look hilariously inedible and aggressive

Thank god. For once, mother nature didn't pull a polar bear on us.

Apparently the Carolina Reaper, which is significantly weaker than Pepper X, has a capsaicin content of around 100mg/g [1] -- and each one weighs around 5 grams.

10% of the Carolina Reaper, by weight, is capsaicin. I think that this is why all high-capsaicin peppers look so shriveled and stunted -- the capsaicin itself interferes with normal structural development.

To put it into perspective: Your regular jalapeno pepper has a capsaicin content of 0.22mg/g.

[1] - https://mendelnet.cz/pdfs/mnt/2017/01/96.pdf

from the wikipedia page:

  The extensive curves and ridges of a Pepper X chili create more surface area for the plant placenta and locules to grow and retain capsaicin, adding to the intensity of heat experienced when a Pepper X is eaten.[2].

So it could be an intentionally bred feature

Yep. Scovilles are (roughly) ppm capsaicin x 16, so Pepper X is about 170mg/g.

Most of the capsaicin is in the pith. On some peppers the pith is not really differentiated from the flesh other than the ribs that jut out and where the seeds hang. On the reaper and some of these other hot peppers, the pith is a very noticeable membrane covering the entire inside surface of the pepper. The flesh of the pepper is actually very thin, so you end up with with a lot of pith and not that much more flesh. That's how the percentage can get so high.

Superhots also produce capsaicin in the fruit, unique from non-superhots. Removing the pith from a ghost, reaper, etc., will significantly reduce the heat but still contain a lot of capsaicin from vesicles present in the fruit itself.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279564263_Novel_For...

Yep, I tried this out with a batch by removing the membrane entirely. It was still extremely hot. Not worth the effort.

> exuding pure capsaicin crystals

How about shooting them out with force towards any large moving object. I'd have one (kept in an aquarium).

> laid out flat on a marble wall

Christ, it's so hot it rotates gravity!

I will never understand why people eat these peppers. I can't imagine any food being so good you'd overlook three and half hours of extreme discomfort followed by an hour of agony to eat it.

They get a high eating these