Abstract
Three caste groups of the Maharashtrian population, namely Brahmin (N=58), Maratha (N=989) and Scheduled caste (N=1073), were studied for defective colour vision and for the ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). Comparisons of defective colour vision and PTC taste sensitivity were made with other Maharashtrian populations studied previously by various authors.
The incidence of defective colour vision is lowest among the Brahmins (3.44%) and highest in the Scheduled caste people (4.28%). Taste sensitivity to PTC is highest among the Brahmins (72.5%) with a value which is close to the Vednagar Brahmins (73.3%) who show the highest frequency of the ‘T’ gene recorded so far in Maharashtra.
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Singh, N., Bagga, A. Defective colour vision and taste sensitivity to PTC in the Maharashtrian population. Int. J. Anthropol. 9, 317–320 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447574
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447574