Hot water treatment of plant cellulosic material before enzymatic hydrolysis to sugars and subsequent ethanol fermentation is an accepted practice that increases ethanol yields. Plant structural studies by researchers at Purdue University (United States) have now shown that hot water treatment of corn stover “causes ultrastructural changes and the formation of micron-sized pores that make the cellulose more accessible to hydrolytic enzymes”. Better accessibility of cellulose results in high sugar yields which translates to higher ethanol production. A full report of their paper is published in the Biotechnology and Bioengineering journal (URL above)..