Guinness World Records declared on Monday that Pepper X has won the title of world's “hottest chilli pepper”.

According to testing conducted by Winthrop University in South Carolina, this new pepper averages 2.69 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU), surpassing the previous record-holder, Carolina Reaper, which averages 1.64 million SHU, according to Guinness World Records, reports CNN.

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American scientist Wilbur Scoville created the SHU scale to gauge the spiciness of chilli peppers in 1912, it said.

According to Guinness, the typical jalapeno pepper has a SHU rating between 3,000 and 8,000.

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Ed Currie, the owner of the Puckerbutt Pepper Company in South Carolina, cultivates Pepper X. The Carolina Reaper, which broke the record in 2013, was also a creation of his, the report said.

“Ed cultivated Pepper X on his farm for over 10 years, cross-breeding it with some of his hottest peppers to increase its capsaicin content,” Guinness said on its website.

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Currie unveiled Pepper X to the public for the first time on an episode of the popular YouTube series, “Hot Ones.”

There is currently no information on how a pepper that has 1 million more Scoville units than the Reaper will be characterised.