Chilli farmer jets off in search of spicy sources

A chilli farmer from Devon has embarked on a global search for the true origin of one of the world's hottest chillies.

Amrit Madhoo, co-director of South Devon Chilli Farm, near Kingsbridge, travelled to Trinidad and Tobago - where he was born - to discover the source of the Moruga Scorpion.

The Moruga Scorpion is rated 1.2 million on the Scoville scale, and is about 240 times spicier than a jalapeno, according to South Devon Chilli Farm.

Speaking on BBC Radio Devon, Mr Madhoo said he "always thought there was a bit of mystery" around it, and felt if anyone should be able to find its origin, it should be him.

Mr Madhoo and his wife have owned South Devon Chilli Farm since 2022

Mr Madhoo and his wife Jenny took over the Loddiswell-based business in 2022 and he said he often had people asking him about who created the Moruga Scorpion.

He said he had "no answers to give them" other than what he could find online where information was "quite sparse" and "the etymology of the naming of the chilli" did not make sense.

In November 2024, he flew to the Caribbean, where some of his relatives still lived.

Mr Madhoo said he posted a message on social media to those he knew there asking if anyone knew or might be able to help find the creator of the chilli.

He said he had "mixed responses" with many people not knowing.

Mr Madhoo said his brother-in-law had extended family who farmed in Moruga, and had access to some of the old elders in the village who would know of such a person.

In a post on the South Devon Chilli Farm website, Mr Madhoo said he found a farmer called Nigel Rooplal on his travels - who claimed he and his late brother Russell created the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion in 2010.

Mr Madhoo filmed and interviewed Mr Rooplal, who told him about the chilli and said he and his brother did not get any help to formally recognise their achievement.

He said the pair's names were "never mentioned anywhere" and he believed "they simply got forgotten about or maybe were even intentionally left out of the story of this infamous pepper".