Correlations between characters and path analysis in sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) genotypes for juice production

Sweet sorghum presents stems with juice similar to that of sugar cane, rich in fermentable sugars, that may be used in off-season for sugar and ethanol production optimizing the sugar-ethanol sector. The objective of this work was to determine genetic correlations between characters and perform path analysis between juice volume and its components. Twenty-five sweet sorghum genotypes were evaluated in randomized blocks design with three repetitions and studied variables were: number of days to flowering; plant height; number of stems; weight of green mass; weight of dry mass; number of leaves; diameter of stems; volume of extracted juice and percentage of total soluble solids. In order to verify the existence of variability among the genotypes, data were subjected to variance analysis by F-test. Subsequently, genetic parameters were determined, as soon as genetic correlation estimator?s method, performed by t-test, to determine phenotypic correlation and bootstrap method for determining environmental and genetics correlation coefficient. Before performing path analysis a multicollinearity diagnosis was also conducted. The results of genetic correlation and path analysis point weight of green mass as the main variable influencing the juice volume, allowing these characters in indirect selection for increasing juice volume.