Carolina Reaper

The Carolina Reaper is a hybrid chili pepper cultivar developed in South Carolina, known for its extreme heat and wrinkled red pods.

Capsicum chinense: A domesticated pepper species that includes many of the world’s hottest chili cultivars. The Carolina Reaper is classified as a hybrid involving this species.
Ed Currie: An American pepper breeder who founded the PuckerButt Pepper Company. Currie developed the Carolina Reaper through selective pepper breeding.
Scoville Heat Unit: A unit expressing pepper pungency based on capsaicinoid concentration. Reaper heat ratings are reported in these units.
Hot sauce: A liquid condiment made with chili peppers and other ingredients. The Reaper’s pungency makes it a distinctive ingredient in extreme-heat sauces.
Capsicum annuum: A domesticated pepper species that includes bell peppers, jalapeños, and cayenne peppers. Its other parent species gives the Reaper a distinct hybrid ancestry.
PuckerButt Pepper Company: A South Carolina company specializing in chili peppers, hot sauces, and pepper breeding. It is the company through which Currie introduced and marketed the cultivar.
High-performance liquid chromatography: An analytical method that separates and measures compounds in a liquid sample. Modern pepper heat ratings use it to quantify capsaicinoids.
Chili pepper: The pungent fruit of plants in the genus Capsicum, used as a vegetable, spice, and condiment. The Reaper is a particularly hot member of this broader food category.
Hybrid: An organism produced by crossing genetically distinct parents. The Reaper’s cultivar identity comes from a deliberate cross between pepper varieties.
Pakistani Naga pepper: A hot chili pepper from Pakistan used in breeding some superhot cultivars. It is reported as one of the Carolina Reaper’s parent varieties.

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Ghost pepperRelated: It represents a later stage in the pursuit of peppers hotter than ghost pepper.