Improvements of the bioavailability of straw: acid and enzyme hydrolysis of wheat straw pretreated with saturated lithium chloride in hydrochloric acid

Wheat straw was pretreated with saturated lithium chloride in 4 m hydrochloric acid at 50°C for 1 h, then hydrolysed at 100°C for 1 min, to give 84% conversion to monosaccharides. Particle sizes, 150–355 mesh, were easily hydrolysed. Samples pretreated with saturated lithium chloride in 1 m hydrochloric acid at 27°C for 24 h were hydrolysed by Trichoderma viride cellulase (MVA 1284) 1,4-(1,3;1,4)-β-d-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.4] to give 20–23% monosaccharides for particle sizes of 150–250 mesh, and 82–95.4% for particle sizes of 250–355 mesh.