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NMSU researchers establish the genetic mutation that allows superhots to get so hot

heathotsauce

heathotsauce

They say somebody could very well hit 3-4 million shu? I'm not even sure I would grow something that ridiculous, but it would be pretty sweet
 
Wow, if they right the walls of superhots must be hotter than the placenta. Didnt expected that.
 
I guess i have to test it this season :-P
 
But if that increases the scoville number  of a pepper depends on how you measure the scoville.
 
Is the scoville tested on the hottest spot of the pepper or is it the average of the whole fruit?
 
It's not about scoville, it's about amount of capsaicin, if I get that right. So basically the mentioned breeding efforts would result in a higher overall cap amount, not in a higher concentration in a particular case. However, this would of course raise the scoville rating of pepper powder from those peppers, too, as it's a mixture of the hot and not so hot parts.
 
heathotsauce said:
...this info may help breeders develop peppers twice as hot as the current hottest.
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For...?
 
In my opinion, it seems this thing is now just another useless obsession.
 
I do not see how they can claim this to facilitate the breeding of a double strength super and testing with only the Moruga Scorp seems odd as it says nothing about the (I'm fairly sure) unrelated Bhuts which are, if not mild, atleast a lot milder.
 
irn8cctC2uZ said:
 
For...?
 
In my opinion, it seems this thing is now just another useless obsession.
Click to expand...
 
Oh yea, I don't disagree, it probably doesn't serve much of a practical purpose - the article says it will help the extraction industry (companies that extract capsaicin for medical purposes) but I'd bet that until these superhots are grown on a seriously massive scale, habaneros probably provide more SHU/$ in terms of extraction purposes. 
 
I think the real reason people are doing this is that it's the nature of humanity to push things to extremes and to try to set records, however pointless. Why do some people climb the tallest mountains, or go to outer space, or try to set all those silly world records (eg the most milkshake dispensed through the nose, or the longest escalator ride, or the most toilet seats broken by one's head in one minute)? 
 
Zackorz said:
Wow, if they right the walls of superhots must be hotter than the placenta. Didnt expected that.
 
I guess i have to test it this season :-P
 
But if that increases the scoville number  of a pepper depends on how you measure the scoville.
 
Is the scoville tested on the hottest spot of the pepper or is it the average of the whole fruit?
Click to expand...
 
 
I believe it. look at this chocolate brainstrain from this past summer.
 
jV43uvp.jpg
 
Wow you can see the oil dripping from the walls. Not to mention the inside is solid placenta. Have fun with that! haha
 
I agree with the above, wall placenta is the key to extra heat.. A huge oily sponge of a placenta to hold all that oil helps too ... The following pic isnt the best s the flash wached out a bit of the detail, but my Hells Rose Special Cross had almost full placenta soaked in oil and pools of oil on the walls
 
 
Seems to me like something we`ve know for years is now "new". The fact that many superhot varieties have placental tissue throughout the interior of the pod is both clear and obvious and has been for many years. You can even peel it away from the flesh of the pepper, for f**ks sake. 
 
So, to summarise, placental tissue is where the machinery for making capsaicin exists (localisation data first shown in 1980, but known for many years before that). If there`s more placental tissue, then the pods have the potential to make more capsaicin. What an astonishing finding (yes, that`s sarcasm). I hasten to add that I`m not criticising the OP at all. 
 
http://pcp.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/5/839.short
 
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/016894529090137D
 
Nigel said:
Seems to me like something we`ve know for years is now "new". The fact that many superhot varieties have placental tissue throughout the interior of the pod is both clear and obvious and has been for many years. You can even peel it away from the flesh of the pepper, for f**ks sake. 
 
So, to summarise, placental tissue is where the machinery for making capsaicin exists (localisation data first shown in 1980, but known for many years before that). If there`s more placental tissue, then the pods have the potential to make more capsaicin. What an astonishing finding (yes, that`s sarcasm). I hasten to add that I`m not criticising the OP at all. 
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I get what your saying, but to me the significance is that the actual genetic mutation that allows superhots to have the extra placental tissue has been found.

So in theory this mutation could be added to 'any' chilli variety.. We could end up with GMO 'super cayenne' or 'super Tabasco'.
 
Jase4224 said:
I get what your saying, but to me the significance is that the actual genetic mutation that allows superhots to have the extra placental tissue has been found.

So in theory this mutation could be added to 'any' chilli variety.. We could end up with GMO 'super cayenne' or 'super Tabasco'.
Click to expand...
 
I agree entirely, if they had the genetics tied up on a DNA level I`d be a lot more excited, but this is a quote from the article,
 
"Right now, we’re assuming this is a genetic mutation in super-hots because we’ve never seen this in wild chile peppers"
 
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