Morphological characterization of sweet sorghum lines which has the potential as a raw material for bioethanol

Sweet sorghum is a potential plant as a raw material for bioethanol. This plant has the potential to be developed in tropical, semi-tropical and arid climates. To obtain information on elite lines as raw material for ethanol, it is necessary to characterize qualitative and quantitative traits. This study aims to obtain information about the quantitative and qualitative characters of several sweet sorghum lines that have the potential as raw materials for bioethanol. The research was carried out from August to December 2019 on the Experimental Farm of Indonesian Cereals Research Institute (ICERI), at Maros, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The genetic materials used in this study were ten sweet sorghum lines, namely 15020B, 1115-C, 4-183ABEOTO, AB-6-1-1, EA-13-1-1, KL2, 10 (1-1), 23 (1-1), Buleleng Abang and WR2 and two varieties as check, namely Super-1 and Super-2, using a randomized block design in which genotype was the treatment factor. Qualitative data is explained by a descriptive method which refers to UPOV. Analysis of variance indicated significant differences in the quantitative and qualitative characters. Significantly different characters quantitatively were plant height, leaf length, leaf width, day to flowering, panicle length, and weight of 1000 grains. While the significant qualitative data are green leaf intensity, leaf bone color, pistil color, pistil length, dry stamen color, panicle shape, panicle density after pollination, self-pollination, husk color, husk length, grain color, seed shape, and endosperm texture. Based on morphological data, the promising elite lines as raw material for bioethanol were EA-13-1-1, KL2, WR2, Buleleng Abang, 61 (1-1) and 15020B. However, other scientific supporting data are needed to recommend superior sweet sorghum lines as raw material for bioethanol.