SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE

(Table 1, Figure 1). Both the layers of gel 7. Chauhan, S., M Sc thesis, Indian Agri-
prepared in Sisco agar showed poorly cultural Research Institute, New Delhi,
visible halo zones, while with Qualigens, 1984, p. 148.
8. Chauhan, S. and Gaur, Y. D., in Current
the halo zone was of moderate intensity.
Status of Biological Nitrogen Fixation
Similar type of results were observed
(eds Singh, R., Nanawatee H. S. and
when different media varying in compo- Sawhney S. K.), HAU, Hissar, 1986,
sition, particularly in carbon sources pp. 136–137.
were used. A well-like halo zone under 9. Gaur, Y. D., in Nitrogen: Soil, Physiology,
the spot, which was clearer after Biochemistry, Microbiology, Genetics
removing the growth with cotton swab, (eds Abrol, Y. P., Tilak, K. V. B. R.,
was considered as positive antagonism. Kumar, S. and Katyal, J. C.), INSA, New
The examination of 38 strains as test Delhi,1993, pp. 173–198.
strains against 15 non-bacteriocin pro- 10. Nirmala, J., Ph D thesis, Indian Agricul-
tural Research Institute, New Delhi, 1999,
ducing sensitive strains on YEDXA, made
p. 262.
with a mixture of Qualigens and Difco 11. Bergersen, F. J., Aust. J. Biol. Sci., 1961,
agars, showed 23 strains producing clearly 14, 349–360.
visible inhibitory halo zones. These 23 12. Vincent, J. M., in A Manual for the
strains showed an inhibitory spectrum Practical Study of Root Nodule Bacteria,
identical to that obtained with deferred Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford,
antagonism procedure. 1970, p. 164.
Based on this modified simple method, 13. Subba Rao, N. S., in Interaction of
8648 transconjugants could successfully Nitrogen-Fixing Microorganism (ed. Subba
Rao, N. S.), Oxford & IBH, New Delhi,
be screened to identify three bacteriocin-
1984, pp. 37–64.
defective mutants10.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. N.J. thanks Indian
1. Mayr-Harting, A., Hedges, A. J. and Council of Agricultural Research for the
Berkelay, R. C. W., in Methods in Micro- senior fellowship.
biology (eds Norris, J. R. and Ribbons,
Figure 1. Production of inhibition zone by D. W.), Academic Press Inc, New York, Received 10 November 1999; revised accep-
the antagonistic strains of Cicer–Rhizobium 1972, pp. 315–472. ted 20 June 2000
against the sensitive strain PR2005b (center: 2. Tagg, J. R., Dajani, A. and Wannamaker,
2005b, from ↑ clockwise: PR2303, PR2042c, L. W., Bacteriol. Rev., 1976, 40, 722–
PR2015b and PR2109a). a, Growth; b, Halo 756.
zone seen after removal of growth. J. NIRMALA
3. Schwinghamer, E. A. and Brockwell, J., Y. D. GAUR*
Soil Biol. Biochem., 1978, 10, 383–387.
4. Lotz, W. and Mayer, F., J. Virol., 1972,
observed. It was found that when the Division of Microbiology,
9, 160–173.
bottom layer of YEDXA contained 0.5% 5. Gissman, L. and Lotz, W., J. Gen. Virol., Indian Agricultural Research Institute,
Qualigens and 1.5% Difco agar, and the 1975, 27, 379–383. New Delhi 110 012, India
top layer contained 0.5% of each of these 6. Kekessy, D. A. and Piguet, J. D., Appl. *For correspondence.
two agars, the halo zone was most sharp Microbiol., 1970, 20, 282–283. e–mail: ydg_mbio@iari.ernet.in

The hottest chilli variety in India

Chillies or cayenne, are one of India’s The hot flavour of chillies is due to the conversion generally accepted is that
major export commodities. An annual the presence of a group of seven closely 15 Scoville units is equal to 1 ppm
plant, chilli comes in a wide variety of related compounds called capsaici- capsaicin plus capsaicinoids. The hottest
shapes, sizes, colours and in different noids, but capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl- chilli, ‘Red Savina’ Habanero, has been
degrees of pungency. India is the only 6-nonenamide) and dihydrocapsaicin are tested at over 577,000 Scoville units. The
country rich in many varieties with dif- responsible for approx. 90% of the pun- extremely fiery Thai chillies barely reach
ferent quality factors. The medium pun- gency1–3. Chilli hotness is measured in 100,000; more common varieties like the
gent sannam and the mildly pungent Scoville Heat Units (SHU)4,5 which is jalapeno or the Italian peperoncino gen-
mundu chillies are internationally recog- originally a subjective measure but today, erally lie below 5000 Scoville units.
nized as the finest in quality. Products chilli hotness is more frequently deter- Chillies as a natural product have been
are also available as powder and oleo- mined by HPLC (high performance liquid a subject of study in pharmaceuticals,
resins. Indian chilli is exported to many chromatography), whose results can be food industry and for law enforcement
countries, notably USA. correlated to traditional Scoville ratings: since the past few decades. Oleoresin

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 79, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2000 287

SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
Table 1. Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin content and pungency in decreasing order of pungency in SHU.
different varieties of Indian red chillies* We found that the Tezpur variety (Cap-
Capsicum Oleoresin Capsaicin Dihydrocapsaicin Pungency sicum frutescens var. Nagahari) of Indian
type (% w/w) (% w/w) (% w/w) (SHU) chilli contains maximum capsaicin and
dihydrocapsaicin contributing to a pun-
Tezpur 15.0 4.28 1.42 855000* gency of 855,000 SHU, which seems to
Gwalior 12.5 0.47 0.23 112500
Patna 19.1 0.44 0.21 96000
be the hottest chilli known so far. This
Guntur 12.0 0.20 0.16 53250 chilli evokes a biting sensation. Interest-
Kashmir 11.0 0.18 0.09 40500 ingly, it contains only capsaicin and di-
hydrocapsaicin among the capsaicinoids
*Red Savina Habanero, a Mexican chilli reported to be hottest in the world has (Figure 1) which contribute maximum to
a pungency of 577,000 SHU.
the pungency of chillies, perhaps this is
the reason for its high Scoville heat
value. The effect of seasonal variation on
a b c the amount of capsaicin and dihydrocap-
saicin was also observed, as reported by
Yahia and Padilla6. The above results
have also been confirmed by the isolation
of capsacinoids from Tezpur and Patna
varieties. Thus, we have identified the
hottest chilli variety in India.

1. Kosuge, S. and Furata, M., Agric. Biol.

Chem., 1970, 34, 248–256.
2. Iwai, K., Susuki, T. and Fujiwaki, H., ibid,
1970, 43, 2493–2498.
3. Kawada, T., Watanare, T., Katsura, K.,
Takami, H. and Iwai, K., J. Chromatogr.,
1979, 329, 99–105.
4. Scoville, W. L., J. Am. Pharmacol. Assoc.,
1912, 1, 453.
5. Govindarajan, V. S., Narasimhan, S. and
Dhanara, S. J., J. Food Sci. Technol.,
Figure 1. HPLC chromatogram of a, Standard capsaicin showing capsaicin (1) and dihydro- 1977, 14, 28–34.
capsaicin (2); b, Patna oleoresin showing capsaicin (1) and dihydrocapsaicin (2). Peaks 3, 4 and 6. Yahia, E. M. and Padilla, M. C., J. Agric.
5 represent other naturally occurring compounds which could not be identified; c, Tezpur oleo- Food Chem., 1998, 46, 2075–2079.
resin showing capsaicin (1) and dihydrocapsaicin (2).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank Dr
R. V. Swamy, Director, Defence R&D Estab-
capsicum (OC) is an extract of the cayenne have been assigned their local names lishment for his kind cooperation, valuable
pepper. OC is less potentially lethal than because the botanical identification of guidance and support.
its synthetic counterparts, ortho-chloro- these chillies could not be ascertained, Received 14 March 2000; revised accepted 17
benzalmalononitrile (CS) and chloroaceto- except for the Tezpur chilli. The chillies June 2000
phenone (CN). It is environment-friendly were dried and then extracted with ace-
and much safer than CS or CN. In most tone which was found to be the best sol-
cases, OC is dispersed by the use of aero- vent, the extract was concentrated and the RITESH MATHUR†
sols but use of OC powders is growing resulting concentrate was analysed by R. S. DANGI†
and it is predicted to dominate the market HPLC using Shimadzu Model LC6A S. C. DASS#
in the coming years as the mainstay of liquid chromatograph, Polygosil C-18 R. C. MALHOTRA†,*
riot control agents. column, MeOH-water (60 : 40 v/v), 10%
†
The objective of our work was to find acetonitrile and 1% citric acid as mobile Defence Research and Development
out a chilli which contains maximum phase and a variable wavelength UV-VIS Establishment,
capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, so that detector set at 201 nm. From the above Jhansi Road, Gwalior 474 002, India,
#
both can be extracted from it to be used analysis, we calculated the amount of Defence Research Laboratory,
as OC or as powder after isolation. We capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in ppm. Tezpur 784 101, India
have analysed various varieties of chillies Table 1 shows the capsaicin and dihydro- *For correspondence.
from different states of India. The chillies capsaicin content in chilli varieties and e-mail: drde@gwr1.dot.net.in

288 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 79, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2000