About the Scoville Index A scale developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912, to measure the heat level in chillies. It was first a subjective taste test, but since, it has been refined by the use of HPLC, the unit is named in honour of its inventor. The test officially measures the pungency level of a given pepper. There are other methods, but the Scoville Scale remains the most widely used and respected. The greater the number of Scoville units, the hotter the pepper. Of course, being a natural product, the heat can vary from pepper to pepper, so this scale is just a guide. The original Scoville test asked a panel of tasters to state when an increasingly dilute solution of the pepper no longer burned the mouth. Roughly one part per million of chilli 'heat' rates as 1.5 Scoville units.

The Scoville Heat Index

Chilli Variety	Rating in Scoville Heat Units (SHU)
Bell - Pimento - Sweet Banana - Cubanelle - Pimento - Romanian	0	up to	0
Cherry - Pepperoncini - NuMex R-Naky - Mexibell - Aji Flor	100	up to	500
Santa Fe Grande	500	up to	750
Anaheim - Sandia - NuMex Big Jim - NuMex 6-4	500	up to	2,500
Espanola - Poblano - Mulato - Ancho - Espanola Improved - Pasilla	1,000	up to	2,000
Cascabel - Chilaca - Hot Cherry	1,000	up to	3,000
Rocotillo	1,500	up to	2,500
TAM Jalapeno - Mirasol - Cayenne Large Thick - Guajillo - Cascabella - Hungarian Wax - Peter pepper - Turkish	2,500	up to	5,000
Wax - Puya - Aji Amarillo - Romesco	5,000	up to	10,000
Jalapeno - Serrano	5,000	up to	25,000
de Arbol - Catarina - Japones	15,000	up to	30,000
Aji - Cayenne Long Thin - Piquin - Prik Khee Nu - Dundicut - Tabasco - Andean Aji - Costeno	30,000	up to	50,000
Yatsafusa	50,000	up to	75,000
Chipotle - Santaka - Thai - Chiltepin - Aji Amarillo - Aji Limon - Aji Oro - Cusqueno - Datil	50,000	up to	100,000
Habanero - West Indian Hot	100,000	up to	200,000
Jamaican Hot	100,000	up to	325,000
Bird - Birdseye	150,000	up to	225,000
Scotch Bonnet	150,000	up to	350,000
Red Savina Habanero*	300,000	up to	577,000
Pure Capsaicin	15,000,000	up to	16,000,000
*The hottest pepper recorded was a Habenero at 667,000 SHU. Pure Capsaicin measures 16,000,000 Scoville units.