When most people think about fruits, they either think about the sweet mangoes and apples or tangy oranges and cranberries. But, have you ever heard about spicy fruits that are so savory that you won’t be able to eat them with a straight face?
These fruits can actually make your eyes tear with how spicy they are, so don’t assume that we’re talking about mild spicy. Also, you’ll find the spiciest of all the foods in the list, so make sure to read all the 10 best examples of spicy fruits.
Chilli Pepper
It might be an unexpected entry because people often consider chili pepper a vegetable. But in reality, it is a fruit, and it’s very spicy. The seeds of chili fruit grow inside, and the most spiciness comes from these seeds.
But, even if you remove the seeds, the actual fruit itself also has a strong spice factor. There are a whole lot of varieties of chili peppers, so their spice levels could range accordingly, and you can find these peppers in different colors too.
The spice factor remains the same in all chili pepper fruits. It is the very reason why we’re categorizing them as a very spicy fruit. Even the mildest chili pepper still has a sort of spiciness to it. So, the rest you can imagine.
Capsicum
Capsicum, yet again, is a fruit that is often ranked with vegetables because of the way it looks. It usually has very bright yellow and red colors and grows many seeds inside of it. The capsicum seeds are often discarded because they don’t add much to the taste of the fruit itself.
Capsicum won’t burn your tongue, but it is still spicy enough to give a slight burning sensation to your mouth, which is good enough to prove that it is a spicy fruit. Though the spice level in capsicum fruit itself is the lowest, it is still good enough compared to other fruits.
A few varieties of capsicum aren’t spicy at all and are rather bland. But for the most part, capsicum is accepted to be a very spicy fruit, and it’s added in savory dishes to enhance the flavor, mainly in pizza.
Ghost Pepper
The name might intrigue you, but ghost pepper is yet another fruit, and it is one of the spiciest things you’ll ever eat in your life. It is around 416 times spicier than a regular jalapeno, so you can just imagine how mind-numbingly spicy it’s going to be.
This fruit is so spicy that if you eat 3 pounds of it, you can actually die. So, don’t ever try to munch on ghost peppers while binge-watching your favorite show because it could potentially kill you.
Even if you ingest ghost pepper accidentally, make sure to drink plenty of milk and eat some bread to bring down the spice factor. Or else, it could actually be very life-threatening. So, ever heard about a fruit that could be spicy to this extent?
Piper Nigrum
Piper nigrum is a fruit that makes black pepper. And yes, it’s pretty spicy. Black pepper isn’t a traditionally spicy fruit, but it has a heat that brings it into our 10 best examples of spicy fruits.
White pepper is also made from Piper Nigrum fruit, which contains some heat. This fruit not only has a tinge of spice, but it also is kinda bitter that most fruits on the list aren’t. The good thing is that there aren’t a lot of disadvantages to eating black and white pepper.
Piper Nigrum is ground up to make black or white pepper; in this process, the fruit itself and its seeds are used. Its seeds are somewhat spicy, too, and give the burning sensation that we often feel after eating excessive pepper.
Serrano Pepper
Serrano pepper is also a spicy fruit to causes a burning sensation. It isn’t the hottest chili, but it could still cause discomfort. If you’re thinking about having Serrano pepper in your tortilla wrap next time, just know that they’re at least 5 times spicier than a jalapeno.
The serranos fruit is spicy mainly because of Capsaicin, a component mostly found in spicier foods. This component is what determines how spicy fruit or vegetable is going to be. The highest concentration of Capsaicin is present in the seeds of Serrano, so you might wanna lay off it.
The taste of Serrano pepper is somewhat similar to jalapenos, but it still has a distinct spice factor that might take you off guard. Serrano pepper usually comes in green and red colours and is rather longer and thinner than capsicum and jalapenos.
Jalapeno
Jalapenos are also rather spicy fruits. Most people don’t have any clue that these are fruits despite the fact that they are quite commonly used. Jalapenos are added to everything from pizza to a taco because they offer a very mild spicy factor.
This spice is a lot more tolerable than the rest of our list, and when you cook it, its spice level decreases quite a lot. So, you won’t feel a great deal of discomfort even if you consume raw jalapenos.
The maximum heat of jalapenos is around 350,000 Scoville Heat Unit. It isn’t as hot as one might expect, but jalapenos are still slightly spicier than green chilies.
Habanero
Habanero is also a fruit and a form of chili. It is pretty spicy and has a heat level of around 100,000-350,000 Scoville Heat Unit. It is more or less equal to jalapenos, but Habanero can actually cause a burning sensation, so it feels spicier than jalapenos.
Habanero also has a Capsaicin component in it and in its seeds which makes the fruit quite spicy. Unlike other chilies on the list, Habanero has a fruity flavor, and some of its varieties are sweet and sour.
Paprika
Paprika is quite close to red chili pepper, and it does have quite a lot of heat. Most people even use paprika in place of grounded chili pepper. You can also eat paprika in its raw form, but we warn you that it’s not going to be a very pleasant experience.
It is red-colored, so it looks a lot spicier than it actually is. There are certain paprikas that have a sweet flavor, but most of them are spicy. The paprika fruit is dried and grounded to make a powder that works as a seasoning for savory delights.
Paprika has a very strong flavor which makes it ideal for seasoning, and it also has a taste quite similar to cayenne pepper. So, who knew even the seasonings could be a fruit? At least not us!!!
Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne pepper is a very spicy fruit that could also cause a burning sensation. The Scoville Unit of heat in cayenne pepper is around 30,000 to 50,000, which is good enough to make the fruit categorized as spicy.
It is also used as a seasoning and is often grounded up, but people like to eat cayenne pepper after frying it. Once the pepper is fried, it doesn’t stay as spicy as it was before, but it often becomes comfort food for spice lovers.
If you think that the jalapenos are spicy, wait till you try cayenne pepper because it is at least 15 times spicier than a regular jalapeno which is a lot. It is quite similar to the hotter paprikas but provides a much stronger taste.
Carolina Reaper
Carolina reaper is the spiciest pepper in the world, and yes, it is a fruit. It has a very strong taste, and even though it’s edible, people are often advised not to eat it. The fruit has a very irregular shape and is often dark orange or red in color.
You will be pretty surprised to know that the heat Scoville unit in Carolina Reaper is about 2.2 million, which is more than any other pepper. The fruit’s exterior is not as spicy as its seeds and the membranes surrounding the seeds.
If you consume Carolina Reaper accidentally, make sure to drink lots of milk. And it takes anywhere from 14 hours to 1-2 days to completely recover from eating this fruit. So, it’s better not to go for it in the first place.
Conclusion
Fruits aren’t usually expected to be spicy, which is kinda weird because the spiciest of edible components are fruits. As you already saw, a whole lot of peppers that we either use for flavoring or seasoning are a kind of fruit.
It is safe to say that there are more than 10 best examples of spicy fruits because almost all types of chilies are categorized as fruits. We hope that this list was a warning enough to keep your hands off of some of these fruits.