Ultrasound-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse for the production of fermentable sugars

•High yield of fermentable sugar using ultrasound-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis.•Lower water consumption during the hydrolysis.•Promising procedure to be applied industrially as a tool for process intensification.

The effects of ultrasound irradiation on enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse were evaluated to obtain fermentable sugars. The influences of temperature, enzyme concentration and moisture content were evaluated with and without ultrasound irradiation. The hydrolysis yield achieved using ultrasound irradiation was significantly higher than that without. The highest amount of fermentable sugars obtained in the presence of ultrasound was 0.26 g [sugar] g−1 [dry sugarcane bagasse], which was around twice the value obtained without, at the temperature of 50 °C, 10% mass of enzyme and a moisture content of 75% (dry basis), after 240 min of reaction. The ultrasound irradiation appears to be a promising technology to be used in enzymatic reactions due to its positive effects on the reaction yield.