Thursday, June 05, 2008, 1:48:26 PM

Guinness Declares the Bhut Jolokia:

The hottest of all spices is believed to be the Bhut Jolokia,belonging to the capsicum chinense wich was measured at 1,001,304 Scoville Heat Units(SHU), at the New Mexico State University,Las Cruces,New Mexico,USA, on September 9 2006. So in a not so formal taste test some folks got together for a taste test of the bhut jolokia and find out that it is indeed hot hot enough to use as a weapon.Pepper sprays and elephant repelant.(it is reported that it keeps the large animals away from crops).
Indeed personal experience has confirmed that this hot pepper is indeed potent, just planting the dried bhut jolokia seeds I got burns on my body.So>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>When handling the Bhut Jolokia: WEAR GLOVES, CLEAN HANDS THOROUGHLY, DON'T TOUCH ANY BODY PARTS(esp face and genitals)USE A VERY SMALL AMOUNT  (of the pepper)until you are familiar with it.

A First Time Growers Experience

The record breaking bhut jolokia,toting the certificate from Guinness for the hottest pepper on earth, has drawn attention from gardeners and hot pepper lovers like myself around the world. Starting with 50 bhut jolokia seeds and a small hothouse, a blog and no money, this is a part of a record of growth of a plant from India that has stirred the imagination of many.
Feb 4 08
50 bhut jolokia seeds arrive in the mail. Armed with a seedling heating pad and a small hothouse as well as a desire to burn my lips off, I plant the seeds in a seedling starter kit I bought at K-mart. During planting, a spot under my eye feels like it has battery acid on it. I must have rubbed some capsacin on it. I think these seeds are the real deal!
Feb 20 08
After 15 days in a small hothouse only 4 seeds have sprouted and I wonder if I got bunk seeds. My visions of a crop of the red hot peppers are not gone. After more research I discover that all chilies are slow to germinate. The temperature of the hothouse is kept between 70 and 90 deg.Fer.
March 20 08                                                                                               Now about 40 of the bhut jolokia seeds have sprouted to the height of 2-3". I learn of the process called 'hardening off'. Plants grown in greenhouses develop large thin walled cells. This makes the plant weak to outdoor elements. So out they go during the day in at night to acclimate them slowly to the elements. I kill 10 plants during the process.
April 19 08
Down to 30 bhut jolokia plants to the height of 7", I figure I have enough to sell and list them on e-bay selling none. Continued research reveals that these red hot pepper plants are not for my zone(7). So I keep them in a small outdoor hothouse, hoping to create the climate of India in northern CA.
May 08
Summary to date.Without discouraging anyone from growing these fiery pods I share the following.Mid May brought a 'cold snap' to Northern ca. The temperature in the greenhouse fell to 45 deg. I lost another 10 plants.Thinking I would give them a boost I crushed up 10-10-10 slow release fertilizer and damaged another 10.I'm down to about 15 plants and 5 "trophy plants"(8" plants with deep green growth).So good luck to all and any feed-back is welcome!

These seeds can be tricky to germinate so we have learned while starting to grow our own,  a germination temperature of between 80°F and 89°F is ideal. The flowers also benefit from hand pollination with a paint brush.

It is now the first week in June and some of our Bhut Jolokia Plants are doing well, they are really starting to grow and some of them are still struggling, we thought we had lost some of them because the all the leaves fell off of them but we just left them and to our surprise they came back growing leaves in at different way than they original leaves.

Since this is our first time trying to grow these peppers we have been doing a lot of reading and this is what I have read: The fruit on the Bhut Jolokia are typically between 3" to 31/2" long. Bhut Jolokia never produced fruits without artificial pollination in a greenhouse, and little pollen will be produced (which means their flowers might need a little help with a fine brush indoors - insects, especially bees, can be helpful as well).

Bhut Jolokia (or any open pollinated pepper for that matter) can cross pollinate with another type of pepper if the plants are close together. The seeds from those pods will not grow pure Bhut Jolokia plants if the cross pollination occurs. Open pollinated, (in this usage at least) means that if you eliminate cross pollination with other varieties (by distance or bagging or caging, etc.), and the flowers are pollinated by other Bhut Jolokia flowers, the seeds will grow true Bhut Jolokias. This is why we are growing our Bhut Jolokias alone in our greenhouse. That is not true for hybrids, no matter what you do to control pollination.

If you want to save seed from your Bhut Jolokia and be sure it isn't crossed, we needed to use some type of isolation technique so we bought our own greenhouse. Without that we could not be sure our seeds were true jolokia. Many times the peppers do self pollinate though and the seeds are fine then....Just no way for you to know until you grow them, now we are growing them and are learning by trial and error. Many times people here will swap seed that they say is open pollinated. That means they did not isolate the flowers and there is a possibility the seeds will not grow true. I've heard various percentages thrown around for cross pollination rates. Sounds like it depends a lot on how many insect pollinators you have around and how many and how close various varieties are. Also, some types are known to cross a lot more than others.

I read that the bhut jolokia never produced fruits without artificial pollination in a greenhouse,(which means their flowers might need a little help with a fine brush indoors - insects, especially bees, can be helpful as well). So when the time comes we have our fine brush and are ready to start the artificial pollination process. 

Not knowing anyone that has any experience with the hot pepper I am always looking for any information on all aspects of the bhut jolokia. Growing it for the first time in northern California has been difficult as has getting any real good stories or growing tips. So I have been asking people from India about the 'ghost chili' and the first thing I learned is that India is a big place. The rest is summarized here from an interview with a man who said he was familiar with the pepper and its uses.

Q:Is it a commonly used spice?
A:About as common as hot things here but not as wide
spread.
Q:Has the fact that the bhut jolokia broken the record for heat helped the farmers?
A:I Don't know farmers are low people who live in the dirt I don't talk to them.
Q:Is it true that it is used to keep elephants from smashing through fences?
A:What?That is bull@#$#.If an elephant wants to enough it will go through a fence.I have never heard of that.
Q:It is hot enough to hurt though right?(remembering the burn I gave myself on the cheek while planting dry seeds).

At this point in the conversation my man gets a devilish grin on his face.

A:Yeah oh yes.One time I was angry with my brother so I went to my neighbors house and got some(bhut jolokias). Then I smashed them on the walk way and rubbed his towel in the paste,careful not get dirt on the towel. Then I folded it and put it back. After a day his face was swollen and he was crying out of eyes that had no white all red. I felt so bad for him, so I told him that I had only thought he used the towel on his lower body not his face. Then he showed me his lower body and his crotch area was swollen too.

Q:Do you think the bhut jolokia will gain popularity in the United States?
A:I think so probably more than in India.We never thought about it much.Then at another time I was mad at a woman that I knew well.......

This is getting long so to summarize this 'interview' these peppers are hot,not hot enough to stop elephants but hot enough to burn human skin and you don't want this guy mad at you with spices available!

By:Jason Wimbs 08 http://bhutjolokia.blogspot.com

Alternative Medicine and Hot Peppers

Mary Hanna

Alternative Medicine practitioners are realizing that healing herbs should be part of their arsenal against disease. The newest touted natural herb is Capsicum, found in cayenne pepper. It has many benefits whether taken internally or externally. When taken internally, capsicum is an antibacterial which will encourage healing and deflect infections while slowing the absorption of fat in the intestines to help fight obesity. Because this natural herbal remedy is a stimulant, it improves circulation. Capsicum will also stabilize blood pressure and lower cholesterol. Herbalists are finding capsicum is useful in fighting a variety of ailments.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the herb cayenne pepper had its start as an herbal remedy. There are no writings on Capsicum in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, or Persia. The best guess that historians are willing to put forward is that cayenne went to India and China some time in the 14th or 15th century. It is believed that Europe started cultivation around the 16th century. Today cayenne is still a popular herb in the food industry. Now because of well designed and implemented clinical studies it is widely accepted as an effective alternative medicine. Pharmacopoeias of leading medical clinics from Austria, Egypt, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland support this finding.

The natural healing herb Capsicum contained in cayenne pepper is loaded with Vitamin A which is necessary for smooth skin and vision. Vitamin A has been found to be the most powerful killer of free radicals, which bombard us on a daily basis. Vitamin C is the other proponent active in capsicum. The healing properties of Vitamin C are clearing blood clots, eliminating plaque from the arteries, healing wounds and fighting colds. By starving them of oxygen, capsicum causes tumor cells to die.

Capsicum can cause a burning sensation but in time you will get used to it. The active ingredients in the herbal remedy, Capsicum, stimulate the brain and salivary glands releasing endorphins into your body. Endorphins are nature's natural painkiller giving us the feeling of pleasure. Capsicum is also the main ingredient in pain killing rubs for Arthritis and Diabetes nerve damage.

Many herbalists today recommend capsicum for such ailments as cold hands and feet, sluggish metabolisms, obesity and respiratory tract infections. Use it externally for arthritis, sore back muscles, rheumatism or sprains and bruises. One suggestion for cold feet is to wear a thin pair of socks, then get a thicker pair of socks, sprinkle the inside with cayenne pepper and put them on over the thin socks. The pepper will send a warm soothing sensation to the soles of your feet.

An interesting study was done to see if capsicum would irritate or cause ulceration in the intestines. On the contrary it was found that the herb did not harm the tract but sped up the healing of ulcers by secreting more mucosa, the protective lining of the intestines.

A very surprising result of many of the clinical tests is that capsicum raise the metabolic rate and is effective in burning the bodies fat. This has many implications for people with obesity problems. Early indications also show that capsicum slows the absorption of fat in the small intestine. These studies are on going but there are some weight loss products with capsicum that are available in your health food store.

As a tropical analgesic, capsicum, the natural herbal remedy has received wide attention by qualified health professionals. It has shown to relieve the pain of shingles as well as other skin ailments. The FDA has approved it to be used for these problems as well as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Studies are being done to see if the herb can be effective in treating psoriasis and fibromyalgia.

When using it topically a redness or burning sensation may sometimes occur. This will disappear in two to three weeks time. Once you have received control of the pain capsicum must be used continuously for the relief to be sustained.

If you are diabetic take 3 capsules a day to help bring down your blood sugar levels. Capsicum will affect the breakdown of carbohydrates which will control the fluctuation of sugar levels after eating meals. Of course, this is still being studied in clinics around the world.

So now we have received another healing herb from Mother Nature's food pharmacy. Capsicum can be counted as a natural herbal remedy in alternative medicines available to help our ailments and relieve our pain.

Disclaimer: Always consult your Doctor or Herbalist before attempting any form of alternative medicine. This article is for informational purposes only.

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

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