Acid Pretreatment of Atriplex crassifolia

Acid pre-treatment of Atriplex crassifolia was carried out using different concentrations of HCl (1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%) as the pre-treatment reagents. Oven dried substrates were taken in an amount of 5 g and mixed in 50 mL of HCl solution with varying concentrations, using 100 mL airtight reagent bottles. The screw capped reagent bottles were subjected to a temperature of 121°C for 60 min in an autoclave. Following pre-treatment, the substrates were filtered and washed twice using distilled water to remove any acidic content or other byproducts formed during pre-treatment. The substrates were allowed to air dry. The dried substrates were stored in sterilized polythene zipper bags for further use (Binod et al., 2011 (link)).