The chemical composition of elephant grass was characterized according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory methods (NREL-TP-510-42618, NREL-TP-510-42619, NREL-TP-510-42621) with the adaptations described by (Menegol et al., 2014a). For this, elephant grass samples were extracted with water and ethanol to remove low molar mass extractable components prior to sulphuric acid hydrolysis to quantify glucans (mostly cellulose), hemicellu- loses (mostly acetylated heteroxylans) and both acid soluble and acid insoluble lignins. Carbohydrate analysis was carried out in