The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different acid pretreatments on the hydrolysis of biomass and ethanol production. Maleic, oxalic, and sulfuric acids were used individually as catalysts. The fermentable sugar concentration in hydrolysate was high at more than 30 g/L, which obtained at the dicarboxylic acid pretreatment. On the structural change of pretreated biomass, the S/G ratio ranged from 1.7 to 2.0, which was lower than that of raw material. The amount of phenolic OH group was significantly increased by acid pretreatment, which ranged 17.5-32.8%, compared to 4.7% of the raw material. The amounts of phenolic OH group in lignin sensitively affected simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. The maleic acid pretreated biomass, which included 17.5% of the phenolic OH group, was very effective for attaining high glucose yields and ethanol yield, after simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. At the same time, the highest ethanol yield was 0.48. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.