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chinense Are the Jolokia's all the same?

Naga Jolokia, Naga Morich, Bhut Jolokia, Bih Jolokia, Assam Bhut jolokia, and quite a few similar names.
I don't want to controversial here, but a lot of websites say that they are all just local names for the same pepper.
So I thought I would ask here, as a lot of you would have eaten them and will know for sure!
I know the Dorset Naga is just a selection from Naga Morich, but I dont want to go and buy 4 or 5 packets of seeds if they are the same.

On a related subject, I have a Bangladeshi shop near me and I have been buying peppers labelled as Naga, but they don't really look like the pictures I have seen on here. They are very similar, but the biggest are only about an inch long and they are a little bit more angular in the same way as Okra is.
Please can you give me some advice as I would like to grow a few different varieties next year.
 
They were probably all the same at one time IMO, but they have been selectively bred, and have adapted to different regions/climates into what are now slightly different chiles but still quite similar
 
As far as I have seen, no they are not all the same.

The Bhut Jolokia, Dorset Naga, Bih Jolokia, Naga Morich are different peppers.

The Assam Bhut may be the same as the Bhut given that the Bhut is native to the Assam region. And the Naga Jolokia may be another name of the Bhut, but I can't be certain.

There has been confusion surrounding the Bhut Jolokia and it's related peppers, but are not all one in the same. They're all extremely hot though, that's for sure.
 
On a related subject, I have a Bangladeshi shop near me and I have been buying peppers labelled as Naga, but they don't really look like the pictures I have seen on here. They are very similar, but the biggest are only about an inch long and they are a little bit more angular in the same way as Okra is.

this variety you described would probably be the naga jolokia tezpur PC-1

do they look like this?

indianpc1chilliseeds.jpg
 
I have a few tiny Naga types sourced from Bangladesh too. I'm interested to see if yours look at all like mine. Are they super-hot?
 
I stay away from calling a plant a Naga Jolokia because of the PC1 mentioned above...to me they are either Bhut Jolokia, Bih Jolokia, Dorset Naga, or Naga Morich...

left to right, Bhut Jolokia, Bih Jolokia, Dorset Naga, Naga Morich...this shot was taken last September...I grew all four last year and posted a thread about the differences...short answer is they are so close in pod shape, taste, and heat they could have all come from the same plant...

from what I remember, the Bhuts were the largest pods, the bihs were shorter pods, the dorsets and naga morich produced the most pods...

091509a009.jpg
 
I have a few tiny Naga types sourced from Bangladesh too. I'm interested to see if yours look at all like mine. Are they super-hot?

Oh Yeah!
They are way hotter than anything else I have eaten, but to be fair, since I found this site I now realise what an amateur I am.
Had some grilled Habs on holiday in mexico left out by the catering staff as "traps" for the tourists, they stopped laughing when I kept coming back for more. These are much hotter but with less flavour if you know what I mean.
 
I'm on the same page as AlabamaJack. Bhut Jolokia, Bih Jolokia, Naga Morich and Dorset Naga are the four horsemen of Indian superhot peppers. There's enough differences in appearance and growing habits to warrant growing all four. Heat is pretty much the same but I've never been able to discern much difference in flavor. My taste buds are usually the first things out of my mouth when I eat one of the damn things.
 
I'm on the same page as AlabamaJack. Bhut Jolokia, Bih Jolokia, Naga Morich and Dorset Naga are the four horsemen of Indian superhot peppers. There's enough differences in appearance and growing habits to warrant growing all four. Heat is pretty much the same but I've never been able to discern much difference in flavor. My taste buds are usually the first things out of my mouth when I eat one of the damn things.


I second this. Eating them raw is hell. Although I did get a chance to taste the Bhut when I made a four horseman burger. Great peppers.
 
I've been wondering about this also. I have a "Ghost Fire" hot sauce made with bhut jolokia peppers. Having trouble sourcing bulk bhut powder right now, but I did find a source for bih jolokia.

I'm guessing the bih is different enough from the bhut that it can't be called the "ghost pepper"?

comments?
 
COOL! So, as long as 2 people on a forum, whom I've never met, say it's OK to use bih and call it ghost....it MUST be okay...RIGHT?

AWESOME! That's just the answer I was looking for! :lol:


Now if I could get a few more chileheads to agree, I might consider that route, since bhut is out of stock right now.
 
SL, there was an article posted around here a few days/weeks ago about how NSMU Bhuts have some C. Annum genes in it and how that may be the cause of lower productivity as compared to Bih Jolokias. If you accept the hypothesis presented in that article, then Bihs are more Ghost-y than what we commonly refer to as Bhuts.
 
thank you C-NYC! that is bolstering my hypothesis/hope...!

I did not see that article/thread so I will go looking for that. Thanks~
 
Not trying to crap on that article too much, but i would seriously take it with a grain of salt. I believe it makes note of the fact that the seed source was questionable.

When Dr. Bosland tested the genetics of his Bhuts, they came back as an Frutescens/Chinense interspecific hybrid, and he didn't draw any links to Annum. I'm not really an NMSU Chile Pepper Institute fanboy or anything, but Bosland has been studying peppers for quite some time, and I would tend to give more weight to his results.
 
+1 on that.
Tests need to be done scientifically to get true results. The annuum part is what really seems wrong to me.

"To sum up the rather complex test results, the researchers found eight RAPD markers specific to C. chinense, as well as three markers specific to C. frutescens. No annuum-specific patterns were detected in this Indian chile, but one that was specific to 'Bhut Jolokia'. The genetic similarities among and within the species were calculated by applying some sophisticated algorithms that would be beyond the scope of this article. At the bottom line, the experts obtained a so-called "similarity index value". A totally pure species would mean a value of 1.00, which is rather rare, as most cultivars (= cultivated varieties) contain genes from more than one species through breeding.

The C. annuum samples included in this analysis for reference delivered a similarity index value of 0.86. Similarly, the C. chinense as well as C. frutescens reference samples showed similarity index values of 0.82 and 0.85, respectively. The C. frutescens and C. chinense clusters merged at the similarity index value of 0.45. The the average genetic similarity between C. chinense and 'Bhut Jolokia' was 0.79, which means this chile clearly belongs to the C.chinense species, but has some C. frutescens genes as well.

According to Dr. Bosland, such a genetic species mix is not uncommon, and it is called "interspecific hybridization". As an example, he mentioned the Greenleaf Tabasco cultivar -- it was developed by interspecific hybridization between C. frutescens and C. chinense, followed by repeated backcrossing to C. frutescens. DNA analysis revealed that 'Greenleaf Tabasco' indeed contains some C. chinense genes.

Considering that various C. frutescens peppers are cultivated in northeastern India as well (Indian PC-1 for example), the presence of some frutescens genes in this chinense cultivar should be no surprise. In Assam, plants of C. chinense and C. frutescens could have been grown near each other, allowing for hybridization between them, Paul Bosland remarked. Quite possibly, local farmers knowingly selected for a higher heat chile pepper, eventually leading to the ultra-hot 'Bhut Jolokia'."
http://www.fiery-foods.com/chile-pepper-gardening/127-other-stories-about-growing-chile-peppers/2363-saga-jolokia

Read further into the article for a comparison of bhuts/ nagas/ bih

"We fully agree that these are of the same species and type which might have migrated to other nearby states and countries including Bangladesh and Srilanka where this chilli continued to be known as Naga Mircha ("Naga Moresh''). The original seeds of Dorset Naga were sourced from Bangladeshi community of Britain who might have taken the fruits of this chilli from Bangladesh for culinary purposes."

In their home country, Bhut Jolokia and Bih Jolokia are also spelled Bhwt Jolokiya and Bih Jolkiya respectively.

In a blog we overheard this statement, obviously by a local as well: "It depends on where you grow it. If it is in Guwahati, it is Bhot Jalakia. In Jorhat it would be Bhut Jalakia. The end result is the same, you burn at both ends." Confusing.

There seem to slight differences between various flavors of this pepper, though. While the Assamese growers (Bih Jolokia) as well as the Chile Pepper Institute (Bhut Jolokia) report two flowers per node for their respective plants, we found clusters of up to five on the Naga Morich test plants we grew in our Pepperworld greenhouse from original "Chileman" seeds.


Also, depending on the source, certain calyx differences are evident, and also in fruit shape. Growing the various peppers next season will hopefully bring more insight, so some updates in the future are possible.

With the potential to have the latest "Hottest Chile on Earth" in their hands that will kick Red Savina off its throne, it is no wonder that various parties are trying to market this pepper as "theirs."
 
And here's the comparison report article
http://www.fiery-foods.com/chile-pepper-gardening/127-other-stories-about-growing-chile-peppers/1890-bhutbihmorich-the-jolokia-comparison
 
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