Wood from the leguminous tree, Leucaena diversifolia, was subjected to hydrothermal treatment (autohydrolysis) at 160-180 degrees C for 0-30 min followed by ethanol-soda-anthraquinone delignification. The liquid phase contained 18.65 g of sugars per liter, and the solid phase had a gross heating value of 19.083 MJ/kg, but could also be used as a source of cellulose pulp for the production of paper with tear, burst, and tensile indexes of 2.4 N m(2)/kg, 2.6 MPa m(2)/kg and 40.7 kN m/kg, respectively. L. diversifolia lends itself readily to valorization for energy production, and also to integral, fractional exploitation by autohydrolysis and ethanol-soda-anthraquinone delignification, which can additionally bring environmental benefits to cropping zones. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.