Liquidambar styraciflua L., also known as sweetgum, is an understory hardwood species that has widespread distribution in the southeast USA, especially in pine plantations. In addition to being a possible biorefinery feedstock, sweetgum contains shikimic acid, which is a precursor for the drug TamifluA (R). Sweetgum bark was extracted with 65 A degrees C water and yielded 1.7 mg/g of shikimic acid, while sweetgum de-barked wood yielded 0.2 mg/g of shikimic acid. Because shikimic acid can be extracted with water, the coupling of the phytochemical hot water extraction with dilute acid pretreatment was examined. The addition of a 65 A degrees C shikimic acid extraction step coupled to pretreatment with 0.98% H2SO4 at 130 A degrees C for 50 min resulted in 21% and 17% increases in xylose percent recovery from bark and de-barked wood, respectively. These results indicate that, in addition to recovering a high value product, the 65 A degrees C wash step also increases xylose recovery.