a process for the treatment of biomass to render structural carbohydrates more accessible and / or digestible using concentrated ammonium hydroxide with or without anhydrous ammonia addition , is described . the process preferably uses steam to strip ammonia from the biomass for recycling . the process yields of monosaccharides from the structural carbohydrates are good , particularly as measured by the enzymatic hydrolysis of the structural carbohydrates . the monosaccharides are used as animal feeds and energy sources for ethanol production .