Welcome
The Chile Pepper Institute (CPI) is a research-based, international nonprofit organization devoted to education, research, and archiving information related to Capsicum. We are dedicated to educating the world about the wonders of chile peppers.Research done by New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute has helped promote New Mexico's iconic state vegetable. Now, the CPI (and its chile peppers) is on the map, literally, as a "must-see" destination in Rand McNally's 2010 Road Atlas "Best of the Road" program.
Our research can be hot and cool at the same time. Paul Bosland, co-founder and director of the CPI, was responsible for finding the world's hottest chile pepper, the Bhut Jolokia. In the fall of 2006, the Guinness Book of Records confirmed Bosland's discovery. Discoveries like these are not rare for the Chile Pepper Institute. The record-holder for the world's largest chile pepper is a specimen of the 'NuMex Big Jim' variety that was developed in at NMSU in 1976. And recently, the release of NuMex Heritage 6-4, provides a chile pepper with 5X the flavor of the standard green chile.
