AbstractA comparative study on the saccharification of pretreated rice straw was brought about by using cellulase enzyme produced by Aspergillus terreus ATCC 52430 and its mutant strain UNGI‐40. The effect of enzyme and substrate concentrations on the saccharification rate at 24 and 48 were studied. A syrup with 7% sugar concentration was obtained with a 10% substrate concentration for the mutant case, whereas a syrup with 6.8% sugar concentration was obtained with 3.5 times concentrated enzyme from the wild strain. A high saccharification value was obtained with low substrate concentration; the higher the substrate concentration used, the lower the percent saccharification. The glucose content in the hydrolysate comprised 80–82% of total reducing sugars; the remainder was cellobiose and xylose together. The hydrolysate supported the growth of yeasts Candida utilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 52431. A biomass with a 48% protein content was obtained. The essential amino acid composition of yeast biomass was determined.