Pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) with alcoholates, sodium methoxide (CH3ONa), potassium methoxide (CH3OK) and sodium ethoxide (C2H5ONa), was investigated. Analyses of lignocellulose composition and enzymatic saccharification indicated that C2H5ONa showed the highest enzymatic efficiency of 102.1%. The response surface optimization of C2H5ONa pretreatment showed that under optimal conditions (4% of C2H5ONa, 121 degrees C, 1 h), 65.4% of lignin was removed and the enzymatic efficiency reached 105.2%. Hydrolysis of SCB with cellulases and xylanase at a ratio of 4:1 showed the strongest synergism with reducing sugar production of 21 g/L and conversion rates of cellulose and xylan reaching 110.4% and 94.5%, respectively. These results indicated that C2H5ONa is a promising alkali to pretreat SCB and the synergism between cellulases and xylanase has a significant effect on enzymatic saccharification of the pretreated SCB. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.