that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and not of limitation this invention is a new process for fractionating lignocellulosic biomass from bagasse into two main components specifically a cellulose rich corncob fibre and a xylo oligosaccharides rich solution the cellulose rich component is valuable for many purposes specifically it may be more easily hydrolyzed to glucose which in turn may be more easily fermented to ethanol or other biofuels than in previous processes in a specific example the bagasse is sugarcane bagasse in another specific example the bagasse is sorghum bagasse a preferred aspect of the invention is a continuous process for the pretreatment of bagasse that generates highly reactive cellulose prehydrolysate with a reduced content of compounds which have an inhibiting effect on cellulose hydrolysis and glucose fermentation not only does pretreatment occur without the addition of acid or base but the subsequent extraction step s also occurs without the addition of acid or base to minimize inhibitory disruption of downstream processes another preferred aspect of the invention is a process for the pretreatment of bagasse for generating a lignin free solution of xylo oligosaccharides with a ratio of xylo oligosaccharide to acetic acid and volatile compounds from hemicellulose degradation of greater than 4 the preferred process of the invention includes the steps of pre steaming ground preheated bagasse fibers to add moisture and remove air.