Dorset Naga may enter Guinness Book of World Records as hottest Chili
Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 13
A COMMERCIAL house, Sea Spring Farm, in the UK dealing in export and distribution of chilies/peppers all over the world has claimed to have “developed” a “new” variety of chili Capsicum chinense or in Nagaland popularly known as Raja Mircha (King Chili) and is approaching the Guinness Book of World Records as the hottest chili in the world and is also to be patented as “a new, developed” kind. Curiously, the said chilli is extremely similar to the one the Government of Nagaland is seeking to patent to protect its indigenous class exclusive to Nagaland and even more intriguing is that this “new’ kind has been christened “Dorset Naga.”
Although Sea Spring Farm in Dorset, West Bexington, Dorchester and owned by a business couple Joy Michaud and Michael Michaud, has claimed that the chili, actually a strain of Bangladesh Morich, (Naga Morich) was ‘developed’, no details of it’s applied development or organic pollination procedures have been offered except that it was grown in ploytunnels (plasticized growing areas).
The couple is now seeking Plant Variety Protection from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which will mean that no one else can sell the seeds or claim patent for it. “We are in the process of applying for Plant Variety Protection for Dorset Naga” a blogging website on the Dorset Naga quoted the duo as stating.
Interestingly, while the claims for patent are being made and a representation to the Guinness Records forwarded by the couple, they had also affirmed that “from the outset we want to make it clear that we never set out to develop a new variety of chili. We are market gardeners, and our only intention was to find an unusual chili that we could sell to our customers.” Also in an interview with The Telegraph, Michaud as quoted on the website said “We bought the Naga Morich chilli from a shop in Bournemouth. It is revered by the Bangladeshis. We have all the certificates and believe it is a world record. We will be in touch with the Guinness Book of Records.”
The most significant feature of the ‘Dorset Naga’ is the pungency of the fruit. A pepper’s heat is measured on the Scoville scale with average habanera peppers scoring 100,000 Scoville Heat Units. The world’s hottest spice is the Red Savina Habanero. It has a rating of 350,000–570,000 on the Scoville scale (an index for measuring the hotness of chilies), compared with a score of 2,500–5,000 for the jalapeño. However the Dorset Naga hit 923,000 SHU as tested at two American laboratories. The Dorset Naga was also initially sent to Southwest Bio-Labs in New Mexico, who measured the heat level at 876,000 SHU – almost 60 per cent hotter than the Red Savina Habanero.
It is also reported that ever since the “new variety” was made public enquiries from Australia, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Canada, Sweden, Portugal, America, France, Germany, Tawain, United Arab Emirates and Thailand have been received and that business is increasing dramatically.
Meanwhile Thangi Mannen Secretary, Horticulture, Government of Nagaland confirmed that a patent for the Raja Morcha is being pursued by the government as native to the state. She said that tests have been done on the hotness and pungency of the Raja Morcha at Mysore which revealed that it was “very high”.
“We want to patent it and use it on a wide commercial scale as well as to prevent others from claiming patent for it. She also informed that it is grown only in some select areas in Nagaland.
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