In vitro acid hydrolysis at physiological conditions A solution of laminarin (1mgml−1) was mixed with an equal volume of HCl (150mM)/KCl (17mM). The mixture was incubated for 3h at 37◦C. Samples were taken at 0.5, 1, 2 and 3h. The increase in reducing sugars was measured using dinitrosalicylic acid reagent.