After hydrolytic pretreatment, wood slurries contain substantial amounts of organic acids. Additional acids are produced during the liquefaction step whether or not there is prehydrolysis. The acids have pH's in the range of about 3 to 5 and are easily titrated potentiometrically with sodium hydroxide. Anions present in neutralized slurry or in aqueous product can be titrated with hydrogen chloride solution with appropriate corrections for sulfate if present, and for excess titrant at the low pH of the endpoint.