hemicellulose), 20% lignin and 0.4% ash. Because of its low ash
content, SSB offers numerous advantages relative to other crop
residues, such as rice straw and wheat straw, which have 17% and
11% ash content, respectively [16].
Considering the mass yield after acid pretreatment (66%), the
results indicate that 92% of the hemicellulose was removed. The
cellulose and lignin content increased from 40.4 to 45.8% and
19.8e27.8%, respectively, due to hemicellulose solubilization. The
removal of cellulose during pretreatment does not necessarily
translate into a decrease in the overall conversion yield of biomass
to ethanol because most of the cellulose that is hydrolyzed to
glucose can be converted into ethanol by the strain S. stipitis
employed during hemicellulosic hydrolysate fermentation.