Alkaline pretreatment was tested on rice straw to see how it affects the breakdown of its parts into sugars. They used a mild alkaline solution on the straw, then studied how it altered the hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin content. The pretreatment helped reduce the lignin content while increasing cellulose levels. This made it easier for enzymes to break down the rice straw into sugars. Specifically, using 2% NaOH at 60 ºC for 24 hours increased the sugar yield by 81.01%. The process also enhanced the surface area of the cellulose, aiding the breakdown further. In the end, they got about 790.3 mg of sugar per gram of rice straw, showing that alkaline pretreatment can make processing rice straw for biofuels more efficient.