威尔士农场主培植出世界上最辣的辣椒

A Welsh fruit grower trying to come up with a novel entry for next week's Chelsea Flower Show has accidentally created the hottest chilli ever recorded.

威尔士一位果农原本想为参加下周的切尔西鲜花展而开发一种新辣椒品种，却无意中培育出了世界上有记载以来的最辣辣椒。

Mike Smith, from Denbighshire, declared himself "chuffed" if a little "surprised" after scientists indicated that his Dragon's Breath chilli had eclipsed the existing American record holder by a clear margin.

来自登比郡的迈克·史密斯称，在科学家表示他的“龙吐气”辣椒令当前世界纪录的美国保持者黯然失色后，他有点“惊讶”，但也感到十分“开心”。

Originally intended to be a thing of beauty rather than a sensory beast, the peppers measure a formidable 2.48 million on the Scoville heat scale, ahead of the 2.2 million achieved by the Carolina Reaper.

培育这些辣椒原本是为了美观，而不是给味蕾带来狂野的感受。它们的斯科维尔辣度指数高达令人胆寒的248万，领先于“卡罗来纳收割机”曾达到的220万。

But the 53-year-old insisted he had never set out to breed a particularly hot-tasting plant, and that he is not even a fan of spicy food.

现年53岁的史密斯坚称，他此前从未培育过特别辣的植物，他甚至不爱吃辣。

The one-metre-high tree was last Wednesday night being installed at the Royal Horticultural Society's London showground, where it will be in contention for the Plant of the Year award.

这株1米高的植物于上周三晚被放置在皇家园艺学会的伦敦展览场地，它将在那里参加“年度植物”角逐。

It was grown in collaboration with scientists from Nottingham Trent University, who believe oil from the chilli's is so potent it could act as an alternative anaesthetic for those allergic to conventional drugs.

它是史密斯与英国诺丁汉特伦特大学的科学家合作培育的，他们认为这种辣椒制取的油威力强大，对常规药物过敏的人可以用它来替代麻醉剂。

Mr Smith described discovering the ferocious heat of his home-grown plant.

史密斯描述了发现这种自培植物辣度之猛烈的过程。

"I've tried it on the tip of my tongue and it just burned and burned," he said. "I spat it out in about 10 seconds. The heat intensity just grows."

他说：“我用舌尖尝了一点，感觉越来越辣。大约10秒后我就把它吐了出来。这种辣的感觉越来越强烈。”

Experts believe that anyone who attempted to swallow one of the chilli peppers would be at risk of death from anaphylactic shock.

专家认为，要是吞下一颗这种辣椒，任何人都有可能因过敏性休克而死亡。

"It was a complete accident but I'm chuffed to bits - it's a lovely looking tree," said Mr Smith, who has been competitively show-gardening for eight years.

已参加过8年园艺比赛的史密斯先生说：“这完全是偶然得来，但我非常开心--这是一株外观讨人喜欢的小树。”