Steam explosion pretreatments was used to improve the anaerobic biodegradability of Miscanthus lutarioriparius (M. lutarioriparius). The pretreatments were carried out under five different conditions: Ll (0.5 MPa 153 degrees C 5 min), L2 (1.0 MPa 180 degrees C 5 min), L3 (1.5 MPa 198 degrees C 3 min), L4 (1.5 MPa 198 degrees C 5 min) and L5 (1.5 MPa 198 degrees C 10 min). The biochemical methane potential (BMP) of raw M. lutarioriparius sample was 181.7 +/- 10.7 mLCH(4)/gVS. After applying the steam explosion pretreatments under the five aforementioned levels, the BMP value of pretreated samples increased by 5.9%, 19.9%, 51.3%, 49.7% and 49.8% respectively. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) of raw and pretreated M. lutarioriparius, revealed the disintegration of the biomass structure. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images revealed the apparent disruption of the recalcitrant structure of the M. lutarioriparius. The structural changes in M. lutarioriparius observed via FTIR and SEM after steam explosion therefore led to the improvement in biomethane potential and gas production rate. BMP results indicate that M. lutarioriparius could be effectively converted to bioenergy in forms of biogas after steam explosion pretreatment. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.