印度：“鬼椒”催泪手榴弹 对抗恐怖主义的新型武器

The Indian military has a new weapon against terrorism: the world's hottest chili.

现在印度军方有了一种新型的对抗恐怖主义的武器：世界上最辣的辣椒。

In this July 4, 2007 file photo, farmer Digonta Saikia shows a 'Bhut jolokia' or 'ghost chili' pepper plucked from his field in the northeastern Indian state of Assam.

After conducting tests, the military has decided to use the thumb-sized "bhut jolokia（印度鬼椒） ," or "ghost chili," to make tear gas-like hand grenades（手榴弹） to immobilize（使不动，使固定） suspects, defense officials said Tuesday.

The bhut jolokia was accepted by Guinness World Records in 2007 as the world's spiciest chili. It is grown and eaten in India's northeast for its taste, as a cure for stomach troubles and a way to fight the crippling（造成严重后果的） summer heat.

It has more than 1,000,000 Scoville units, the scientific measurement of a chili's spiciness（香馥，辛辣） . Classic Tabasco sauce ranges from 2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units, while jalapeno（墨西哥胡椒） peppers measure anywhere from 2,500 to 8,000.

"The chili grenade has been found fit for use after trials in Indian defense laboratories, a fact confirmed by scientists at the Defense Research and Development Organization," Col. R. Kalia, a defense spokesman in the northeastern state of Assam, told reporters.

"This is definitely going to be an effective nontoxic（无毒的） weapon because its pungent（刺激性的，辛辣 ） smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hide-outs," R. B. Srivastava, the director of the Life Sciences Department at the New Delhi headquarters of the DRDO said.

Srivastava, who led a defense research laboratory in Assam, said trials are also on to produce bhut jolokia-based aerosol sprays（气雾喷雾器） to be used by women against attackers and for the police to control and disperse（驱散，分散） mobs.