a b s t r a c t
Rice straw is an attractive lignocellulosic material for bioethanol production since it is one of the most
abundant renewable resources. It has several characteristics, such as high cellulose and hemicelluloses
content that can be readily hydrolyzed into fermentable sugars. But there occur several challenges and
limitations in the process of converting rice straw to ethanol. The presence of high ash and silica content
in rice straw makes it an inferior feedstock for ethanol production. One of the major challenges in developing
technology for bioethanol production from rice straw is selection of an appropriate pretreatment
technique. The choice of pretreatment methods plays an important role to increase the efficiency of enzymatic
saccharification thereby making the whole process economically viable. The present review discusses
the available technologies for bioethanol production using rice straw.