A novel pretreatment of rice straw has been developed to increase the reactivity of cellulose, in particular to increase the rate and extent of cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis. This technique is called ammonia-freeze-explosion method and relies on treatment of the lignocellulosic material with a volatile liquid under pressure followed by pressure release to evaporate the liquid and reduce the temperature by Bme E. Dale of Texas A & M University. Volatile liquids which also chemically explosion and swell lignocellulosic materials are particularly effective when used in this technique. Above four times of conversion of cellulose to glucose has been achived by enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw with this method.