2.1. Preparation of bagasse hydrolysate
Sugarcane bagasse has been hydrolyzed to fermentable sugars by acid hydrolysis in two stages that resulted in xylose-rich stream in first stage and glucose-rich stream in second stage (Kumar et al. 2010, 2015a). The acids in the hydrolysate were separated by ion- exchange chromatography and recycled back for fresh hydrolysis. The first-stage acid hydrolysate was rich in xylose (22.3 g l 1) having total reducing sugar concentration 24.8 g l 1, whereas, the second-stage hydrolysate was rich in glucose (32 g l 1) having total reducing sugar concentration 34.5 g l 1 (Kumar et al. 2015a).