Ghost peppers, ghost chili peppers, naga peppers – whatever you want to call them—these fiery little horror-lookin’ things pack the second hottest punch on the Scoville Heat Scale. And they’re so easy to grow and make sauces, chutneys, and salsas that can be used to spice up any dish.
If you love food and you are into spicy food, then the ghost pepper is a must hear of. But where is the ghost pepper from? Why is it so hot? How many different types of peppers are there? It’s all right here.
Where Is Ghost Pepper From?
The ghost pepper is native to Northeast India and is also known as Bhut Jolokia.
The ghost pepper is a variety of chili pepper that has been developed through selective breeding. It is named for its extreme heat, which measures one million on the Scoville scale. The fruit of this plant is small and round with a thick skin.
The ghost pepper is also known as bhut jolokia, Indian chili, and naga Jolokia. It belongs to the Capsicum annuum species, which includes peppers like bell peppers and jalapeño peppers. It belongs to a group known as “hot” peppers because they contain capsaicinoids, chemicals that cause pain in mammals when ingested or touched.
The ghost pepper has been used for centuries as medicine in Ayurvedic medicine systems in India and China. It’s believed to have antibacterial properties as well as being an anti-inflammatory agent that can reduce swelling after an injury if applied topically.
Why Is Ghost Pepper so Hot?
There are several reasons why ghost peppers are so hot. The first is that they contain a compound called capsaicin, which is the active ingredient in chili peppers.
Capsaicin is what makes your mouth feel hot when you eat spicy food, and it gives ghost peppers their distinctive flavor.
This chemical bonds with pain receptors in your body, causing them to send a signal to your brain that something’s wrong, which is why you feel pain when eating a ghost pepper.
Capsaicin can also cause other unpleasant symptoms like sweating and nausea after eating ghost peppers.
But just how much of this substance do you need to consume before feeling its effects? According to the Scoville Heat Scale (a way of measuring how hot different types of peppers are), there’s about 200 times more capsaicin in a ghost pepper than in an average jalapeño.
One reason for this difference is that jalapeños have seeds inside them, which contain some capsaicin but not as much as the flesh itself does.
How To Grow Ghost Peppers
If you want to grow ghost peppers in your garden, they’re easy to grow and will produce heavy harvests of peppers.
The plants are fairly drought-tolerant and will produce fruit without much water or fertilizer. They do best in warm, humid climates that have long growing seasons with plenty of sunlight. The plant grows well in containers if you want to grow them indoors during the winter months.
Ghost Peppers need full sun for at least 6 hours a day so they can produce lots of fruit during the summer months when they’re most productive. If there isn’t enough sunlight during the winter months, consider supplementing with artificial light such as fluorescent lamps or LED lights.
Make sure your growing area is well-lit so that your ghost pepper plant can grow properly. The ghost pepper is a tropical plant, so it needs plenty of heat and humidity throughout its life cycle.
Ghost peppers also need full sunlight during their growth period; however, they can tolerate shade once they’ve reached maturity.
Ghost peppers need a lot of water during their growing season; however, they don’t like having their roots sitting in water for too long because this can lead to root rot problems later on down the road.
To prevent this from happening, try watering your plants once every week or two instead of watering them every day like most other plants that require lots of water each day.
How Hot Is Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce?
Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce is one of the hottest sauces available. It is made with the Bhut Jolokia pepper, which is also known as the Ghost Pepper or Naga Jolokia.
The Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce comes in three different levels of heat:
Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce – The original version of this sauce has a Scoville rating of 300,000 units. It contains no vinegar or other ingredients that would decrease the heat of this sauce.
Bhut Jolokia Hot Sauce – This version of Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce has been toned down slightly to have a Scoville rating of about 125,000 units. It still has some kick, but it’s not quite as hot as its predecessor.
Ghost Chili Habanero Hot Sauce – This new flavor has been created for those who prefer a little more heat than the original Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce but aren’t looking for something completely over-the-top like Bhut Jolokia Hot Sauce provides.
Can Ghost Peppers Hurt Your Stomach?
Ghost peppers are hot enough to cause stomach problems for some people. If you have an empty stomach and eat a large number of ghost peppers at once, then you could experience cramping and diarrhea.
If you’ve eaten ghost peppers in the past without any problems, then there’s no reason why they would hurt your stomach now, as long as you eat them responsibly.
But if you haven’t eaten ghost peppers before and don’t have any experience with chili peppers, then it’s best to avoid them until you know how your body will react to them.
Conclusion
The ghost pepper comes with a powerful spicy flavor and a high Scoville heat unit, making it one of the hottest chili peppers in the world. Yet, it is also one of the most beautiful because its light red to orange color makes it quite attractive.
With their mild heat and unique flavor, chiles have evolved into one of the most popular varieties of spicy foods in the world. They’re eaten fresh and dried in some regions, while others are pickled. They’re used to make hot sauces, foods, and condiments like salsa and chutney.
