Guwahati: In what was considered to be world’s hottest chilli on the earth, “Bhot Jolokia” has gradually been loosing its hotness and pungent flavor due to cross pollination and certain changes in farming.
According to research and findings of some agricultural scientists of Assam Agricultural University, the Bhot Jolokia, which was listed in the Guinness World Records in 2007 as hottest chilli of world has come down to the Scoville level — a scale that scientists use to measure the spicy heat of chilli. The director of the university (Research) Dr G.N. Hazarika said, “In 2008, we recorded its heat as 1.5 million Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) which gradually came down to 0.4 million SHU most recently. Our studies have found that Bhot Jolokia has been gradually losing its unique properties of being super-hot.”
Another significant feature of the Bhot Jolokia is its high pungency due to which it is much sought-after by the defence laboratories. They have been working on a project to produce non-lethal chilli grenades to flush out terrorists at impenetrable locations.
