The Armageddon chili pepper is a chili pepper variety, it is the world's first superhot F1 hybrid of C. chinense. The variety was created by Tozer Seeds[1] and first grown by Salvatore Genovese.[2] The Armageddon pepper was introduced to the UK market in 2019. The pepper holds a rating of 1.3 million SHU (Scoville Heating Units).
Development and distribution
Armageddon is the world's first F1 hybrid of C. Chinese, one of the ‘Super Hot’ chilies,[3] the fruity-flavored pepper was cultivated to be a quick growing, high yielding and easily harvested pepper, making it a leading candidate for the growing of 'Super Hots' at scale. In 2019, the first commercial grower of the Armageddon promoted it as "...the hottest commercially grown chili in the UK..." although the heat level was well below the then Guinness World Records individual pepper heat leaders, the Naga Viper, Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper, and the Carolina Reaper.[4] Seed of Armageddon is sold around the world by Tozer using various distributors.
Appearance and pungency
The Armageddon plant spreads to an average width of 1.5 feet, and grows to an average height of 2.5 feet. One plant will produce fruits up to 2" long, that require up to 75 days to reach maturity, much quicker than that of the Carolina Reaper. The Armageddon pepper has been classified as 'Exceptionally Hot', and is rated on the Scoville heat scale[a] at 1.3 million units, which is about 400 times hotter than the typical jalapeño pepper rating.[4][6]
^Leahy, Ed (8 July 2020). "New chillis launched by Bedfordshire firestarter". Fresh Produce Journal. Retrieved 15 October 2024. Last year Genovese created a new record by growing the Armageddon variety, which at 1.3m Scovilles is the hottest British-bred commercially grown chilli pepper.
