Fatalii is a yellow, very hot Capsicum chinense chilli that growers associate with central Africa. Reliable information on it is surprisingly scarce, so here we only write what can be documented.
| Species | Capsicum chinense |
|---|---|
| Heat | third hottest of the C. chinense tested in an HPLC study (2017), hotter than ordinary habaneros; we found no reliable SHU figure |
| Origin | central Africa according to growers (unconfirmed) |
| Fruit | yellow, wrinkled |
| Flavour | “intense, fruity”, with heat that hits instantly |
What we know
A 2017 Slovak study measured the heat of dried pods of several C. chinense varieties by HPLC. The hottest was Bhut Jolokia, followed by Habanero Red Savina and, in third place, Fatalii Yellow – ahead of other habaneros. Writing in Fiery Foods, Harald Zoschke described Fatalii’s flavour as “intense, fruity”, with heat that hits instantly.
What we don’t know
Fatalii is said to come from central Africa; Zoschke writes that it evolved from peppers brought back by returning slaves, but no scientific source supports this. Neither the heat range of 125,000–400,000 SHU nor the often-mentioned “citrus” flavour has a reliable source – they appear only on seed sellers‘ websites. We will update this article if we find better evidence.
Related
Habanero · Scotch bonnet · Bhut Jolokia · Scoville scale
Sources
- Popelka P. et al. (2017). Potravinarstvo Slovak Journal of Food Sciences. doi:10.5219/731
- Zoschke H. (2008), Fiery Foods & BBQ Central: Pepper profile: Fatalii