disclosed are bonding agents useful in the production of pelletized or briquetted fuels . the bonding agents may be incorporated into a feed containing the fuel material , providing both adhesion and cohesion of the fines to produce a uniform and predictable pellet or briquette . specifically , the bonding composition contains a solubulized starch , a sugar source and / or a diol or polyol compound , and optionally a polymer selected from polyvinyl alcohol , pvoh copolymers , polyvinyl acetate , polyvinyl acetate copolymers , ethylene vinyl acetate or any subset or combination of such polymers . also disclosed are methods of preparing the bonding agents and to densified and / or torrefied biomass products prepared therewith .