Aji Limo vs Aji Amarillo, Two Species at 50,000 SHU

Is ají limo hotter than ají amarillo?

Not by any figure you can find. Sonoran Spice rates both ají limo and ají amarillo at 30,000 to 50,000 SHU, and says its own powder of each tests just under 50,000¹². PRODERNA, a German ingredient supplier, gives its amarillo the same 30,000 to 50,000³.

Two identical bars, and both rest on sellers' numbers. We searched for a university, government or peer-reviewed range for either ají and found none, so you should read the chart as a fair sign that the two land close, not as a lab verdict.

For your cooking, that makes the choice about flavor, color and the dish you have in mind, and the rest of this page helps you make it. Treat the two as one heat band and choose by what the pot needs.

Why might a limo still bite harder than the same weight of amarillo?

Because its species tends to run hotter, though nobody has shown it for these two ajíes. Peru's ají limo belongs to Capsicum chinense, and ají amarillo to Capsicum baccatum var. pendulum⁴. A 2018 study of chiles bought at the main market in Huancayo, Peru, found far more capsaicinoids in its C. chinense fruit than in its C. baccatum⁵:

Now the limits. The C. chinense in that study was a chile sold locally under another name, not ají limo, and the team sampled one market⁵. A Portuguese trial of 71 peppers found C. chinense reaching the highest heat but no direct link between species and pungency overall⁶.

So the species hint is real but loose. If you hold a limo and an amarillo of the same weight, the limo has the better odds of being the hotter pod; the seller specs say the difference may be small. Taste a sliver of each before you commit your whole pot.

Here is a quick way to run that test at home. Cut a thin ring from the middle of each pod, away from the seeds, and taste the amarillo first, since you expect it to be the milder one. Wait a minute, drink a little milk or water, then taste the limo. If you feel a clear step up, start the limo at two thirds of the weight in your recipe; if you feel no difference, swap them gram for gram.

How can you tell an ají limo plant from an ají amarillo plant?

Look at the flowers. The Capsicum monograph describes C. chinense flowers as dull white or greenish-white, two to four or five to a node, while it describes C. baccatum flowers as white with greenish-yellow spots inside⁷:

The Bioversity guide makes the same point from the Peruvian side: C. baccatum flowers are white or cream with greenish or golden marks on the corolla, a trait that sets the species apart⁴. The flower spots are the quickest check in your garden. The Portuguese trial agreed: seed color, flower color, spots on the petals and the ring at the calyx were the traits that best separated the species⁶.

If you grow both from seed, wait for the first flowers before you label your pots, because the flower and calyx traits are the ones the monograph and the Portuguese trial rely on, and you can check them with your own eyes in a minute. A spotted flower means you have the amarillo; a plain greenish-white one with a ring under the fruit cap means the limo. The ají amarillo growing guide covers the season for the larger plant.

What do the two pods look like at a Peruvian market?

The colors give them away. The Bioversity market guide describes ají limo as long or round and red, white, green, yellow or purple, and ají amarillo as orange or yellow⁴:

The amarillo is by far the more common one. In a 2011 survey of 205 people in Lima, 89 % said they eat ají amarillo, the top answer of any ají⁴. Limo did not make that list, which tells you why you find amarillo paste abroad far more often than limo.

The dried amarillo has its own name, which trips up shoppers. Dried ají amarillo is sold as ají mirasol⁴, a different chile from the Mexican mirasol that dries into guajillo. If your recipe is Peruvian, the mirasol it means is your dried amarillo.

Why can you buy amarillo paste almost anywhere but rarely find limo?

Because Peru's own shoppers buy far more amarillo. In Lima's Wong supermarkets, ají amarillo made up 95.2 % of native ají sales from August to October 2010; at Tottus in May 2010 it was 79 %, with rocoto a distant second at 15 %⁴. Limo does sell in Lima, alongside panca, rocoto and mochero, but in smaller amounts⁴.

The guide calls amarillo the best-known C. baccatum in Peru and the one the country mainly grows, distributes and exports⁴. Exports of native ajíes are so small, it adds, that they often travel as personal parcels and never show up in export records.

For you, abroad, that means two things. Amarillo comes as paste, powder and dried mirasol in most Latin shops, while limo turns up mostly as powder, such as the 210 g jars of ground limo the guide lists from Peruvian brands⁴. If your recipe asks for fresh limo and you can't find it, a powder at the same heat band is a closer swap than skipping the ají.

Which Peruvian dishes take limo and which take amarillo?

The guide ties limo to hot sauces, ceviche and tiradito, and amarillo to a long list of cooked dishes⁴:

The pattern follows the pods. Limo goes in raw, sliced thin, where its sharp, citrus-like fruit wakes up a plate of fish; Sonoran Spice describes it as very fruity and citrusy¹. Amarillo goes into the pot, often as a paste, where its yellow color and fruit carry a whole dish: PRODERNA calls it tropical and fruity with a raisin aroma³.

If your recipe uses jarred paste, the ají amarillo paste guide tells you what goes into it and how hot the jars run.

How do you swap ají limo for ají amarillo by weight?

Use the same weight, then fix the color. With the same seller heat band for both¹², the honest swap is gram for gram:

The middle row is the one to think twice about. Amarillo gives ají de gallina its yellow, and a red or purple limo cannot. If you must use limo there, add a pinch of turmeric or a spoon of yellow bell pepper purée for color, and keep the limo weight the same.

What trips cooks up when they trade one ají for the other?

Mostly names and colors. Run these checks before you cook:

The gloves point matters more than the band suggests. At up to 50,000 SHU, both ajíes reach the top of the cayenne range of 25,000 to 50,000⁹, so seeding a kilo of either for a party batch of paste is a job for gloves, not bare hands.

Your next step: decide whether your dish needs the limo's raw bite or the amarillo's yellow body, weigh the amount from the swap table, and taste a sliver of your pod before you add it. If you can't find either fresh, the ají limo stand-ins list what to buy instead, and the panca against the amarillo covers the third ají on most Peruvian shopping lists.