Bioethanol production from mandarin (Citrus unshiu) peel waste using popping pretreatment

► Popping pretreatment designed for bioethanol production using mandarin (Citrus unshiu) peel waste. ► d-limonene concentration (fermentation inhibitor) was reduced from 0.21% to 0.01%. ► Particle size of popping-pretreated MP also reduced to less than 1 mm. ► The enzymatic hydrolysis on pretreated MP has produced 95.6% saccharification rate. ► Ethanol productivity and yield efficiency by Saccharomyces cerevisiae were remarked to 3.85 g/L h and 90.6%.