According to Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia): “The Scoville scale is the measurement of the pungency (spicy heat) of chili peppers. The number of Scoville heat units (SHU) indicates the amount of capsaicin present. Capsaicin is a chemical compound that stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes.”
Yikes, right? Just reading that makes me start to sweat! We’ve reproduced the standardized Scoville chart straight from WikiPedia. Grab some tissues and read on!
Scoville Ratings of Chemicals
| Scoville heat units | Examples |
|---|---|
| 16,000,000,000 | Resiniferatoxin |
| 5,300,000,000 | Tinyatoxin |
| 16,000,000 | Capsaicin |
| 15,000,000 | Dihydrocapsaicin |
| 9,200,000 | Nonivamide |
| 9,100,000 | Nordihydrocapsaicin |
| 8,600,000 | Homocapsaicin, homodihydrocapsaicin |
| 160,000 | Shogaol |
| 100,000-200,000 | Piperine |
| 60,000 | Gingerol |
| 16,000 | Capsiate |
Scoville Ratings of Peppers
| Scoville heat units | Examples |
|---|---|
| 1,500,000–3,000,000 | Most law enforcement grade pepper spray, Pepper X, Carolina Reaper, Dragon’s breath |
| 750,000–1,500,000 | Trinidad moruga scorpion, Naga Viper pepper, Infinity chili, Ghost pepper |
| 350,000–750,000 | Red Savina habanero |
| 100,000–350,000 | Habanero chili, Scotch bonnet pepper, Peruvian white habanero, Guyana Wiri Wiri |
| 50,000–100,000 | Byadgi chili, Bird’s eye chili (a.k.a. Thai chili pepper), Malagueta pepper |
| 25,000–50,000 | Guntur chilli, Cayenne pepper |
| 10,000–25,000 | Serrano pepper, Aleppo pepper, Cheongyang chili pepper |
| 2,500–10,000 | Espelette pepper, Jalapeño pepper, New Mexican varieties of Anaheim pepper |
| 1,000–2,500 | Anaheim pepper, Poblano pepper |
| 100–1000 | Banana pepper, Cubanelle |
| 0-100 | Bell pepper, Pimento, Banana pepper |