Bhut Jolokia, also known as ‘Ghost pepper’ in English - one of the hottest chillies in the world was exported on Wednesday from Guwahati to London for the first time. It is similar to Naga Jolokia, Raja Mirchi, Naga Morich and King chilli, grown in Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur, respectively. The chilli was declared the hottest chilli pepper in the world by Guinness World Records in 2007.
Giving information about the export, the Press Information Bureau termed it a "major boost to exports of Geographical Indications (GI) products from the north-eastern region."
The king of chilli from Nagaland got its GI certification in 2008 and on Wednesday morning was sent to the United Kingdom via air. The PIB has shared a few photos of the chillies that were exported on its Instagram handle. A GI certification is an intellectual property right safeguarding the creation and selling of a product that has originated in different geography and culture.
"India's hottest chillies, #BhutJolokia make their way to #London," wrote PIB sharing the pictures of the boxes of the chillies being packed and moved outside the country.
The Airports Authority of India said that the Bhut Jolokia was formally transported from the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati, Assam, via an Air India flight. Around 250 kg of the chillies consignment was brought from Tening, part of Peren district, Nagaland.
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Calling the occasion to be special, AAIs Regional Executive Director Ravi Kant said “Bhut Jolokia”, has got identification of a unique product of north-east India and it getting exported from this region is happy news.
“We are very much enthusiastic that the cargo export potential from the airports in the northeast region would grow to benefit the local food-producing organisations, especially the farmers. The AAI has developed standard facilities in air cargo complex for enabling export of NER to produce to the domestic as well as international markets,” he added.
In a statement, the PIB stated that Bhut or Bhoot Jolokia, considered as the world's hottest chilli, is based on the Scoville Heat Units (SHU).
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Due to the decayable quality of the Bhut Jolokia, exporting them becomes a challenge, however, to facilitate the transport - APEDA, the apex body that serves the export of agricultural products from the country, cooperated with the Nagaland State Agricultural Marketing Board and made the expert possible.