growth of society[4–6]. Ethanol, as a clean and renewable energy
source, which can be produced from sugars through fermentation
has drawn much attention in recent years. Ethanol is now one of
the most widely used transport bio-fuels in the world and its consumption as transport fuel has kept increasing steadily[3,4]. Apart
from an alternative to traditional energy source, ethanol can also
be a versatile chemical and organic solvent. However, the production of ethanol through fermentation has been limited using the
current sugar cane or maize starch-based technology because of
raw materials shortage and high cost [4–6]. A potential method
for solving this problem is to utilize lignocellulosic materials such
as agricultural wastes[4–8]. Production of ethanol from rice straw
(RS), one of the most abundant agricultural wastes, has been