Mechanical treatment of polysaccharide with hydrophobic alcohol

A process for the preparation of an alkyl polyglycoside comprising the step of mechanically treating a polysaccharide in the presence of an acid and a hydrophobic alcohol, wherein the mechanical treatment is effected by grinding, extruding or kneading and wherein the hydrophobic alcohol is a linear or branched C6-C22 alkanol, and wherein the molar ratio of the hydrophobic alcohol to the monomeric units of the polysaccharide is from 1:10 to 1:1.