Feel the burn with Trinidad Scorpion pepper
Name: Trinidad Scorpion Pepper
■ What is it?: I must admit that when I first grabbed one of the Trinidad Scorpion packages off our seed rack, I was a little shocked. After all, it’s not every day one picks up a package of seed that states on the label, “Wear eye protection and gloves.” But considering the Trinidad Scorpion is the world’s hottest pepper, the warning is one to be taken seriously.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Trinidad Scorpion, it’s not the kind of vegetable you would chop and drop into a salad. It contains stratospheric levels of mouth-burning chemicals called capsaicinoids, and it currently holds the record as the world’s hottest pepper.
■ Its history: The Trinidad Scorpion, like all peppers, is a member of the solanacea family that is indigenous to Central and South America. Tomatoes, potatoes and petunias are some of its famous cousins, and it is but one of about 200 pepper varieties that are grown for commercial production and home garden use.
Some pepper types, such as the bell peppers, contain non-detectable levels of capsaicinoids, while the Trinidad Scorpion is at the other end of the heat spectrum with concentrations of capsaicinoids approaching that of police-grade pepper spray.
Super-high levels of capsaicinoids don’t occur by chance. Rather, they are the result of hot pepper variety crossbreeding by professional and amateur breeders whose prime objective is to create the next world heat champion. As a result of this relentless hot pursuit, it seems that in the hot pepper Olympics, one variety might hold the title of the world’s hottest for about a year or two before a new contender takes the gold.
■ Best features: Need I say what feature is the Trinidad Scorpion’s best?
It produces a pretty, bright- red fruit with a scorpion-like protrusion at the bottom, but it’s the heat churned out by the plant that is the Trinidad Scorpion’s raison d’être.
The official scientific term for measuring capsaicinoids levels is “Scoville heat units” — the higher the Scoville number, the hotter the pepper. For example, a very hot Jalapeno may have up to about 350,000 Scoville heat units, but the Trinidad Scorpion has a mouth-melting two million Scoville heat units.
Most of the capsaicinoids in peppers are stored within the white, placental (riblike) tissue that is contained within the fruit and is adjacent to the seeds. The seeds can be quite hot, as well, but most of the seed capsaicinoids are the result of the chemical bleeding onto the seeds from the placental tissue.
■ Degree of difficulty: Advanced: All peppers require a long, warm, growing season to produce good yields, and since the seed is slow to germinate, patience is a virtue. Also, in our part of the world it is critical that the Trinidad Scorpions get a big jump start on the growing season.
Transplanting a small pepper into your garden is a waste of time.
There simply isn’t enough time for the peppers to mature and you’ll be left with a pretty green plant that is devoid of fruit.
Plenty of sunlight and warmth are critical for maximizing capsaicin concentrations. Ideally, peppers are best grown in raised beds or pots and placed in a sheltered spot that receives at least eight hours of direct sunlight per day.
Peppers aren’t excessively heavy feeders, and I find that feeding them once a week with a moderate amount of 10-4-3 fertilizer is plenty to ensure a good harvest.
■ How perfect is it?: Many would argue that wasting money on a pepper this hot is pure insanity.
But then again, how can one put a price tag on the impish pleasure of watching a buddy bite into a Trinidad Scorpion.
The kid in me says this pepper is a 10 out of 10 for entertainment value.