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The two-stage culture system of Haematococcus pluvialis has been widely used in astaxanthin production. However, there are few reports about the characteristics of green cells suitable for astaxanthin accumulation. In this study, the characteristics of H. pluvialis and astaxanthin accumulation ability were evaluated by multivariate statistical analysis. The results showed a significant correlation between the green cell parameters that influenced astaxanthin accumulation. Principal components analysis (PCA) was then applied to these variables, resulting in the reduction of the 7 variables into two principal components, which represented the macro and micro characteristics of green cells. PCA represented 83.59% of the information of all variables. In cluster analysis, samples were divided into three clusters. The higher the comprehensive evaluation value, the stronger the astaxanthin accumulation ability. The combination of PCA with cluster analysis showed that chlorophyll content, protein content, dry weight of single cell, and akinetes proportion were positively correlated with astaxanthin accumulation, while Car/Chl and non-motile cells proportion were negative correlated with astaxanthin accumulation. The result was verified in outdoor large-scale horizontal tube photobioreactors. In this study, the characteristics of green cells suitable for astaxanthin accumulation were obtained, which was conducive to improving astaxanthin production. • The D -value was used to assess astaxanthin accumulation ability. • The higher D -value, the stronger the astaxanthin accumulation ability. • The effect of the D -value was verified in outdoor 16.5 m³ HTPBR. • Providing a direction for the optimization of cultivation in the green stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]