Additive relationships and parent-offspring regression in Musa germplasm with intergeneration genome size polymorphism

► We estimate the heritability of several traits in Musa, which will be useful for banana and plantain breeding. ► We used additive relationships and parent-offspring regression to describe the relationships between parental and filial generations with different ploidy. ► Compared to maternal phenotypes, paternal phenotypes had less value for predicting offspring phenotypes for plant growth characteristics. ► The paternal phenotype was more predictive of progeny performance for bunch weight. ► Specific combining ability tests would be the most efficient means of parental selection.