Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) was employed in order to improve the efficiency of alkaline pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse (SCB). Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize pretreatment parameters: NaOH concentration (0.1-0.5 M), solid/liquid ratio (S/L, 3-10%) and HC time (15-45 min), in terms of glucan content, lignin removal and enzymatic digestibility. Under an optimal HC condition (0.48 M of NaOH, 4.27% of S/L ratio and 44.48 min), 52.1% of glucan content, 60.4% of lignin removal and 97.2% of enzymatic digestibility were achieved. Moreover, enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated SCB resulted in a yield 82% and 30% higher than the untreated and alkaline-treated controls, respectively. HC was found to be a potent and promising approach to pretreat lignocellulosic biomass. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.