5. Conclusions
Ethanol can be successfully produced from sweet sorghum
bagasse with M. hiemalis. The fungus can be considered as a reliable
microorganism and good alternative to baker’s yeast in fermentation
of lignocellulosic hydrolyzates to ethanol in the terms of the
yield and productivity. In order to have a high yield of ethanol from
the bagasse, a pretreatment is necessary. NaOH treatment with
ultrasonication could be an efficient alternative for pretreatment of
bagasse before enzymatic hydrolysis. The pretreatment could partially
delignify, reduce the crystallinity of cellulose, distort the rigid
structure, and increase the external surface area and the porosity
in the bagasse.