In this study alkaline wet air oxidation (WAO), alkaline peroxide assisted wet air oxidation (APAWAO), and enzymatic hydrolysis methods were evaluated for conversion of wood residue (sawdust) to reducing sugars. Cellulose content, hemicellulose solubilization, and lignin removal for WAO pretreatment conditions were optimized by statistical analysis using a 2(3)-full factorial design with reaction temperature, air pressure, and reaction time as the process parameters. An optimum WAO condition of 170 degrees C, 1.0 MPa, 10 min was predicted and experimentally validated to give 518 g kg(-1) cellulose content, 580 g kg(-1) hemicellulose solubilization, and 171 g kg(-1) lignin removal in the solid fraction. About 7 g L-1 reducing sugars was detected in the pretreated liquid fraction. Presoaking the dry raw biomass for 24 h in H2O2 followed by wet air oxidation (APAWAO) at the optimized conditions resulted in enrichment up to 683 g kg(-1) cellulose content in the solid fraction along with solubilization of 789 g kg(-1) hemicellulose and 280 g kg(-1) lignin removal. The yield of reducing sugars from WAO optimized conditions by two enzyme preparations (cellulase and beta-glucosidase) was 131 mg g(-1) of dry substrate, while the APAWAO yielded 274 mg g(-1). Pretreatments used in this study showed to have a disrupting effect on the lignocellulosic biomass, making the treated materials accessible for enzymatic hydrolysis. The combination of presoaking in H2O2 before WAO pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis was found to give the highest sugar yield. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.