To investigate the effect of dilute alkaline pretreatment on different parts of biomass, corn stalk was separated into flower, leaf, cob, husk and stem, which were treated by NaOH in range of temperature and chemical loading. The NaOH-pretreated solid was then enzymatic hydrolysis and used as the substrate for batch acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. The results demonstrated the five parts of corn stalk could be used as potential feedstock separately, with vivid performances in solvents production. Under the optimized conditions towards high product titer, 7.5 g/L, 7.6 g/L, 9.4 g/L, 7 g/L and 7.6 g/L of butanol was obtained in the fermentation broth of flower, leaf, cob, husk and stem hydrolysate, respectively. Under the optimized conditions towards high product yield, 143.7 g/kg, 126.3 g/kg, 169.1 g/kg, 107.7 g/kg and 116.4 g/kg of ABE solvent were generated, respectively. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.