Habanero peppers are one of the hottest chili peppers.
Chili pepper plants produce hot peppers used for eating fresh or to spice up foods and sauces. The hotness of chili peppers is rated by the Scoville scale, which assigns units according to the hotness of the pepper felt when the seeds or flesh of the pepper are eaten. For example, a sweet bell pepper rates 0 units on the Scoville scale, while pure capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers hot, rates 16 million units.
Anaheim Chili Pepper
The Anaheim chili pepper plant produces a large tapered pepper to 5 inches long. It is a mild tasting pepper with a low Scoville heat rating of only 1,000 units. The Anaheim pepper is often picked green, but turns a bright red color when left to ripen on the plant. Because of their large size and mild taste, Anaheim peppers are often stuffed or roasted.
Poblano Chili Pepper
Poblano pepper plants produce a large mild pepper that can be roasted or stuffed with meat, covered with batter and deep fried. Poblano peppers are dark green ripening to a dark reddish brown. They are rated at 2,000 Scoville units, which puts them in the mild category.
Jalapeno Pepper
Jalapeno pepper plants are perhaps the most widely grown hot pepper. There are several varieties with differing amounts of hotness, including a non-hot variety developed by Texas A & M University known as the TAM Mild Jalapeno. The hottest variety rates 8,000 units on the Scoville scale. The popular jalapeno pepper is eaten fresh, made into sauces, stuffed, fried and roasted.
Serrano Pepper
The serrano pepper is another pepper plant that produces hot peppers used extensively in southwestern cuisine. The serrano pepper is a small pepper compared to most other hot peppers and is about 1 inch long. However, one serrano plant can produce more than 100 peppers. A hot serrano pepper rates up to 23,000 Scoville units.
Tabasco Pepper
The tabasco pepper is famous for its use in Tabasco sauce, a popular condiment in the United States originating in Louisiana. The tabasco pepper is rated at 50,000 scoville units. The tabasco pepper plant produces fruit that is 2 inches long and yellow, orange or red.
Habanero Pepper
The habanero pepper plant is a taller growing pepper plant with brittle limbs that break easily in high winds, especially when loaded with fruit, so some protection from wind is required if growing habanero peppers. The rounded orange or yellow and somewhat wrinkled fruit is very hot, with a Scoville rating up to 350,000 units.
Bhut Jolokia Pepper
The bhut jolokia, or naga jolokia, pepper rates more than 1 million units on the Scoville scale and is considered to be the hottest pepper for human consumption. Though rarely eaten fresh, it is used for spicing up dishes and sauces when used in moderation.
Tags: pepper plant, Scoville scale, Chili Pepper, pepper plants, pepper rates
