Just a heads-up – This pepper is NOT for the faint of heart! The Carolina Reaper chile pepper which was developed in South Carolina by Ed Currie received its first Scoville rating of 1,474,000 units, eventually earning it a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013.This chile pepper has a wrinkled appearance and a sweet, fruity taste with hints of cinnamon and chocolate, in addition to intense heat, which in turn comes from the amount of capsaicin present in it. Chile peppers contain high amounts of vitamin C, almost twice that of citrus. The red Carolina Reaper also contains beta-carotene, as well as antioxidants in the form of bioflavonoids. As a matter of fact, antioxidants can protect against the cell damage that free radicals cause, known as oxidative stress.