Pepper X is world's hottest chilli pepper; here's all you need to know

For a decade Carolina Reaper was the world's hottest chilli pepper. Now, it has been dethroned by Pepper X, a hot new chilli that registered a sizzling Scoville score of 2.69 million units. (Image: News18 Creative)

Pepper X is grown by Ed Currie, founder of Puckerbutt Pepper Company (USA), who also created the previous record holder, the Carolina Reaper. (Image: News18 Creative)

The process of generating novel pepper varieties demands considerable patience as initial plant generations inherit numerous traits from their parents. (Image: News18 Creative)

The heat of peppers is measured on the Scoville Heat Scale. The scale is named after Wilbur Scoville, who developed the Scoville Organoleptic Test in 1912. (Image: News18 Creative)

The scale measures the amount of heat in chilli peppers through a test of diluting a chilli pepper extraction with sugar water. (Image: News18 Creative)

Take a look at some of the hottest and mildest chilli peppers on the Scoville Scale. (Image: News18 Creative)

A commonly held belief is that a pepper's heat comes from its seeds. In fact, capsaicin is found in the placenta, the tissue that encases the seeds. (Image: News18 Creative)