Abstract: A study on taste sensitivity to phenylthiocarbamide(PTC) was carried out on 1274 Uigurs and 2080 Kazaks in Yili District of Xinjiang by using the threshold-method. The result showed that percentage of non-tasters was 15.23% for Uigurs and 18.12% for Kazaks. The taste-blindness gene frequency of Uigurs and Kazaks was 0.3902 and 0.4257; respectively. The mean taste threshold and standard deviation were 6.97±2.87 for Uigurs and 6.44±2.94 for Kazaks.
There was a significant difference between Uigurs and Kazaks in taste-blindness gene frequency, the percentage of non-tasters and the mean taste-threshold.

Key words: PTC taste; Threshold; Uigurs; Kazaks; Xinjiang