There is a growing interest worldwide to find out new and cheap carbohydrate sources for production of bioethanol. In this context, the production of ethanol from mahula (Madhuca latifolia L.) flowers by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in solid-state fermentation was investigated. The moisture level of 70%, pH of 6.0 and temperature of 30 degrees C were found optimum for maximum ethanol concentration (225.0 +/- 4.0 g/kg flower) obtained from mahula flowers after 72 h of fermentation. Concomitant with highest ethanol concentration, the maximum ethanol productivity (3.13 g/kg flower/h), yeast biomass (18.5 x 10(8) CFU/g flower), the ethanol yield (58.44 g/100 g sugar consumed) and the fermentation efficiency (77.1%) were also obtained at these parametric levels. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.