Oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) contains about 73.6% (w/w) holocellulose and can serve as a renewable
feedstock for bioethanol production. This study investigated the bioethanol production from chemicallypretreated
EFB via enzymatic saccharification and fermentation. EFB was pretreated with 1.0% (v/v) dilute
H2SO4 at 125°C for 90 min followed by 1% (w/v) NaOH at 100°C for 60 min. The combined chemical
pretreatment was able to remove >90% of the hemicellulose and 50% of lignin. The delignified EFB (5.0%,
w/v) containing mostly cellulose was enzymatically hydrolysed for 72 h to yield 484.79 ± 0.65 mg/g of glucose.
Furthermore, the addition of non-ionic surfactant i.e. 0.5% (v/v) Triton X-100 enhanced saccharification by
31.3%. The SEM analysis revealed that, the combined chemicals changed the EFB morphology by removing the
chemical compositional barrier i.e. silica and altering the physical structural impediment by formation of pores
after silica removal, thus providing more surface areas for enzymatic attack. The EFB-derived sugar was
fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce 12.13 ± 0.99 g/L of bioethanol with theoretical yield of
89.1% within 24 h. The findings value add to the current pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass particularly for
bioethanol production and other renewable resources.