#!/usr/bin/env perl use strict; use warnings; use Data::Dump; my $VAR1 = { '1' => [ 'AGCTCGTTGTTCGATCCA', 'GAGAGATAGATGATAGTG', 'TTTT_CCCC', 0 ], '2' => [ 'AGCTCGTTGTTCGATCCA', 'GAGAGATAGATGATAGTG', 'TTTT_AAAA', 0 ] }; dd $VAR1; my $barcode_pair_35 = 'TTTT_CCCC'; $_->[2] eq $barcode_pair_35 and ++$_->[3] for values %$VAR1; dd $VAR1;