The present work deals with production of ethanol from sweet sorghum bagasse by a zygomycetes fungus
Mucor hiemalis. The bagasse was treated with phosphoric acid and sodium hydroxide, with or without
ultrasonication, prior to enzymatic hydrolysis by commercial cellulase and -glucosidase enzymes. The
phosphoric acid pretreatment was performed at 50 ◦C for 30 min, while the alkali treatment performed
with 12% NaOH at 0 ◦C for 3 h. The pretreatments resulted in improving the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis
to 79–92% of the theoretical yield. The best hydrolysis performance was obtained after pretreatment
by NaOH assisted with ultrasonication. The fungus showed promising results in fermentation of the
hydrolyzates. In the best case, the hydrolyzate of NaOH-ultrasound pretreated bagasse followed by 24 h
fermentation resulted in about 81% of the corresponding theoretical ethanol yield. Furthermore, the
highest volumetric ethanol productivity was observed in the hydrolyzates of NaOH pretreated bagasse,
especially after ultrasonication in pretreatment stage.