Know Why Bhut Jolokia Or Ghost Pepper Is One Of The Hottest Chili Peppers

Worldwide Bhut Jolokia became famous when it was tagged as the world’s hottest chilli pepper. With a staggering 10 lakhs SHU (Scoville Heat Unit), it is now one of the hottest chilli peppers. Despite its hotness, this pepper has many health benefits.

There are many health benefits of eating Bhut Jolokia. Consuming Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper) on a regular basis has prevented cancer, heart-related disease, skin related diseases, lowers blood sugar and even produces antioxidants. In this post, we will discuss the top 10 health benefits of this bhut jolokia.

The Bhut Jolokia is a marvellous gift of nature. Despite being extremely hot, it possesses pleasant and palatable aroma. It’s name varies across different regions and countries. To know all the names, you can read from here.

Because of its spiciness, refreshing aroma and medicinal properties, it is used for pickle preparation, chili sauce, flavouring curries and for home remedies. We will discuss all of them in detail.

NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF BHUT JOLOKIA (GHOST PEPPER) PER 100 GRAM

The species to which Bhut Jolokia belongs is Capsicum Chinese and Solanaceace Family. The leaves are broad and Bhut Jolokia Fruit is wrinkled. These are the main characteristics of the Bhut Jolokia plant.

It is a self-pollinated plant but cross-pollination also occurs. It grows mainly in rainy hot humid climates like northeast India and neighbouring countries like Bangladesh.

Plants belonging to Capsicum species have 5 compounds that make it hot. These compounds are responsible for the spiciness of chili peppers of the capsicum.

To list, they are

• Capsaicin
• Dihydro-Capsaicin
• Nor-Dihydro-Capsaicin
• Homo-Capsaicin
• Homo-Hydro-Capsaicin

Capsaicin and Dihydro-Capsaicin is found more than 80% in chili peppers. But Capsaicin is the main responsible factor of hotness in a chili pepper. Bhut Jolokia contains more 3 to 5 % Capsaicin than normal chili pepper. That’s why Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper) is hot.