The present work presents an alternative approach to ethanol production from sweet sorghum: without detoxification, acid-impregnated fresh sweet sorghum stem which contains soluble (glucose and sucrose) and insoluble carbohydrates (cellulose and hemicellulose) was steam pretreated under mild temperature of 100 A degrees C. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation experiments were performed on the pretreated slurries using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Experimentally, ground fresh sweet sorghum stem was combined with H2SO3 at dosages of 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 g/g dry matter (DM) and steam pretreated by varying the residence time (60, 120, or 240 min). According to enzymatic hydrolysis results and ethanol yields, H2SO3 was a powerful and mild acid for improving enzymatic digestibility of sorghum stem. At a solid loading of 10% (w/v) and acid dosage of 0.25 g/g DM H2SO3 at 100 A degrees C for 120 min, 44.5 g/L ethanol was obtained after 48 A +/- 4 h of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. This corresponded to an overall ethanol yield of 110% of the theoretical one, based on the soluble carbohydrates in the fresh sweet sorghum stem. The concentrations of hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural of the sulfurous acid pretreated samples were below 0.4 g/L. Ethanol would not inhibit the cellulase activity, at least under the concentration of 34 g/L.