Culms of bamboo grass (Sasa senanensis Rehd.) were treated with saturated steam at a range of temperatures between 170 and 197 degrees C for 10 min in the presence of various acid catalysts in order to improve solubilization of the xylan in the substrate. The catalysts were Lewis acids, inorganic salts and organic acids. These compounds strongly modified the steam-hydrolysis and solubilization of bamboo grass xylan. The use of low levels of Lewis acids or CaCl2 had the advantage of a substantial reduction in temperature requirement for the steaming treatment. The solubilized sugars were mainly composed of xylose, arabinose and low molecular weight xylo-oligosaccharides.