Objective The parental characteristics of Saccharum spp. were studied to provide references for sugarcane hybrid breeding.

Method Thirty frequently-used parents of sugarcane germplasm resources were preliminarily evaluated, among which the differences in brix, stem diameter, plant height and tiller rate were analyzed, and the cluster analysis were applied to classify these parents.

Result There were significant or very significant differences among these parents in brix, stem diameter, plant height and tiller rate. The cluster analysis result showed that these 30 parents could be divided into 6 groups. Both the parents of type Ⅰ and type Ⅱ had high brix and small stem diameter, while the tiller rate and plant height of the parents of type Ⅰ were both lower than those of the parents of type Ⅱ; Both the parents of type Ⅲ and type Ⅳ had low brix, small to middle and middle stem diameter and high stalk, while the tiller rate of the parents of type Ⅲ was higher than that of the parents of type Ⅳ; Both the parents of type Ⅴ and type Ⅵ had middle brix, middle and middle to big stem diameter and middle tiller rate, while the plant height of the parents of type Ⅴ was higher than that of the parents of type Ⅵ.

Conclusion Among these tested parents, most of the imported American sugarcane varieties had earlier maturity and higher sucrose content, while many materials bred in China performed better on yield characters, for example, Yuetang60, Funong95-1702 and Yunzhe89-391 had biggest stem diameter. In the practical sugarcane breeding, some tested parents such as CP57-614 and CP67-412 have already been used in sugarcane breeding program, and the imported varieties in recent years such as HoCP07-612 and HoCP07-613 would be further utilized.