Bamboo was non-isothermally pretreated with hot water at 140-200 degrees C for different times (10-120 min). The effects of pretreatment conditions on the degradation of carbohydrates, cellulose crystallinity, partial removal/relocation of lignin, morphologic change of the feedstock, and glucose yield during the enzymatic hydrolysis were investigated. The effective removal of amorphous cellulose and hemicelluloses led to the increase of crystalline index of the residues. In comparison with the raw material, the surface of the pretreated samples was irregular and numerous lignin droplets appeared on the cellulose bundle surface under the intense pretreatment conditions. The glucose conversion increased with the raise of pretreatment temperature and the prolongation of time, and the maximum conversion of 75.7% was achieved for the sample pretreated at 200 degrees C for 120 min, whereas the untreated sample was only 15.7%. The result illustrated that hydrothermal pretreatment affected the composition of bamboo, and remarkably enhanced the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.