ChilliFacts

Naga Viper Scoville Heat

Naga Viper measures 1,382,118 SHU, with a typical figure of 1,382,118 SHU: about 276× a typical jalapeño. It ranks #4 among verified peppers.

Capsicum chinense (claimed three-way hybrid).

Data checked October 20, 2026 · How we rank and verify

1,382,118 SHUTypical heat
1,382,118 SHUMeasured range
276×Against a jalapeño
Guinness recordStatus
Pepper X: 2,693,000 SHUDragon's Breath: 2,480,000 SHUCarolina Reaper: 1,641,183 SHUTrinidad Scorpion Butch T: 1,463,700 SHU7 Pot Primo: 1,400,000 SHUKomodo Dragon: 1,400,000 SHUTrinidad Moruga Scorpion: 1,200,000 SHUInfinity: 1,176,182 SHU7 Pot Brain Strain: 1,175,000 SHU7 Pot Douglah: 1,170,000 SHUDorset Naga: 1,032,310 SHUGhost Pepper: 1,001,304 SHUNaga Morich: 1,000,000 SHUDalle Khursani: 393,950 SHUFatalii: 262,500 SHURed Savina: 248,556 SHUHabanero: 225,000 SHUScotch Bonnet: 225,000 SHUDatil: 200,000 SHUKanthari: 80,640 SHUBird's Eye Chilli: 75,000 SHUCayenne: 40,000 SHUTabasco: 40,000 SHUGuntur Chilli: 36,160 SHUKashmiri Chilli: 20,800 SHUSerrano: 15,000 SHUByadgi Chilli: 10,000 SHUJalapeño: 5,000 SHUNaga Viper · 1.38M1K SHU10K SHU100K SHU1M SHU
Where Naga Viper sits on the Scoville scale. Each dot is a pepper in our dataset, on a log scale.

Where the number comes from

1,382,118 SHU from a single test by the Warwick HRI Mineral Analysis Laboratory (UK) in November 2010. Press reports at the time gave about 1,359,000 SHU. It was not an average, and the hybrid was described as unstable.

Origin

Cark, Cumbria, England. Created by chilli farmer Gerald Fowler of The Chilli Pepper Company. It is said to be an unstable three-way hybrid of Naga Morich, Bhut Jolokia and Trinidad Scorpion, grown in a greenhouse during a snowy winter. [3]

Flavour and looks

Colours: red.

Facts

  • Dave DeWitt criticised the 2011 records: 'With one test, the most you can show is that a single pepper - or a part of a single pepper - had that heat rating.' [2]
  • Andrew Jukes, who ran the Warwick tests, said he was surprised that record values were not verified on additional samples in other labs. [2]
  • Chili Pepper Madness notes that the NMSU Chile Pepper Institute did not recognise the record. [1]

Record history

  • 2011-02: Recognised by Guinness as the hottest chilli (about 2 weeks after Infinity), based on a 1,382,118 SHU test
  • 2011-03-01: Superseded by Trinidad Scorpion Butch T

Hotter and milder

Naga Viper compared

Compare Naga Viper with any other pepper →

Questions

How hot is Naga Viper?

Naga Viper measures 1,382,118 SHU, with a typical figure of 1,382,118 SHU. That puts it among the superhots, peppers above 1 million SHU.

How many times hotter is Naga Viper than a jalapeño?

About 276× a typical jalapeño (1,382,118 vs 5,000 SHU). Against the hottest jalapeños it is about 173×, and against the mildest about 553×.

Is Naga Viper the hottest pepper in the world?

No. It ranks #4 in our verified ranking. The current record holder is Pepper X at 2,693,000 SHU.

Where does Naga Viper come from?

Cark, Cumbria, England. Created by chilli farmer Gerald Fowler of The Chilli Pepper Company.

Is the Naga Viper heat figure verified?

Guinness record: Certified by Guinness World Records from university lab tests. 1,382,118 SHU from a single test by the Warwick HRI Mineral Analysis Laboratory (UK) in November 2010.

Sources

  1. Chili Pepper Madness, Oct 2013: 1,382,118 SHU; Warwick HRI; November 2010 (secondary source)
  2. Popular Science, Jul 2011: chronology; DeWitt and Jukes criticism (secondary source)
  3. Wikipedia, Naga Viper pepper: breeder, origin, unstable hybrid (secondary source)