Palm kernel cake (PKC), mainly composed of mannan, lignin and protein, is abundant renewable resource with commercial value. To develop clean and efficient way for PKC refinery, the method based on the synergism of hot water pretreatment (HWP), steam pretreatment (SP) and enzymatic hydrolysis were developed. HWP of 180 degrees C, 20 min and SP of 121 degrees C, 20min showed similar performance for sugar release from PKC. The main saccharides produced from PKC by HWP and SP were mannose and manno-oligosaccharides, while no furfural formed. The surface structure analyzed by SEM showed that HWP enhanced the microporosity of PKC, and the accessibility of which was increased thereafter. When HWP pretreated PKC was further hydrolyzed with enzyme cocktail (cellulase, xylanase, endo-mannanase), 45% of PKC was solubilized compared with the control. The manno-oligosaccharides produced by HWP and SP were converted to mannose and mannobiose by endo-mannanase. The results suggested that both HWP and SP promote enzymatic hydrolysis of PKC by releasing oligosaccharides and enhancing microporosity, and the synergism of which was effective for PKC decomposition. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.