The valorization of agro-residues by biological routes is a key technology that contributes to the development of sustainable processes and the generation of value-added products. Sugarcane bagasse is an agro-residue generated by the sugar and alcohol industry in Brazil (186 million tons per year), composed essentially of cellulose (32-44%), hemicellulose (27-32%) and lignin (19-24%). The conversion of sugarcane bagasse into fermentable sugars requires essentially two steps: pretreatment and hydrolysis. The aim of the pretreatment is to separate the lignin and break the structure of lignocellulose, and it is one of the most critical steps in the process of converting biomass to fermentable sugars. The aim of this review is to describe different pretreatment strategies to promote the delignification of the sugarcane bagasse by thermo-chemical and biological processes.

Ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomasses raises a global interest because it represents a good alternative to petroleum-derived energies and reduces the food versus fuel conflict generated by first generation ethanol. In this study, alkaline-acid pretreated brewers’ spent grain (BSG) was evaluated for ethanol production after enzymatic hydrolysis with commercial enzymes. The obtained hydrolysate containing a glucose concentration of 75 g/L was adopted, after dilution up to 50 g/L, for fermentation by the strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae NRRL YB 2293 selected as the best producer among five ethanologenic microorganims. When the hydrolysate was supplemented with yeast extract, 12.79 g/L of ethanol, corresponding to 0.28 g of ethanol per grams of glucose consumed (55% efficiency), was obtained within 24 h, while in the non-supplemented hydrolysate, a similar concentration was reached within 48 h. The volumetric productivity increased from 0.25 g/L·h in the un-supplemented hydrolysate to 0.53 g/L h in the yeast extract supplemented hydrolysate. In conclusion, the strain S. cerevisiae NRRL YB 2293 was shown able to produce ethanol from BSG. Although an equal amount of ethanol was reached in both BSG hydrolysate media, the nitrogen source supplementation reduced the ethanol fermentation time and promoted glucose uptake and cell growth.