An extremely low acid (ELA) pretreatment using 0.06% (w/w) sulfuric acid at 170 degrees C for 15 min was employed to extract non-glucan components from Saccharina japonica, a brown macroalgae. Subsequent simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) was conducted using Saccharomyces cerevisiae DK 410362 and cellulase (15 FPU/g-glucan) and beta-glucosidase (70 pNPGU/g-glucan). Deionized water was used for making fermentation suspension. After the ELA pretreatment, a glucan content of 29.10% and an enzymatic digestibility of 83.96% was obtained for pretreated S. japonica. These values are 4.2- and 2.4-fold higher, respectively, than those of obtained with untreated S. japonica. In SSF, a bioethanol concentration of 6.65 g/L was obtained, corresponding to a glucose equivalent concentration of 13.01 g/L, which indicated an SSF yield of 67.41% based on the total available glucan of the pretreated S. japonica. The remaining separated liquid hydrolysate, which contains mannitol and alginate-derived oligosaccharides can be applied to other fermentations. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.