Wood hemicelluloses are the second most abundant component in biomass yet remain one of the least studied. As oligosaccharides, they displayed prebiotic properties due to their resemblance to dietary fibers, resistance to acidic conditions, and selective fermentability by gut microbes in mice. Microbiota modulation can positively alter host immunity and health; making wood oligosaccharides a promising option while enabling the pulp industry to valorize byproducts. However, the prebiotic properties of wood hemicelluloses oligosaccharides remain largely unexplored. 
This study investigates the prebiotic role of wood hemicelluloses in complex models. As the prebiotic activity of oligosaccharides is linked to their chemical structure, an optimized production process is essential. Oligosaccharides were extracted from softwood chips using the eco-friendly autohydrolysis process controlling the temperature and time, to yield oligosaccharide fractions with different molecular weight ranges. Structural analysis using MALDI ToF and ionic chromatography revealed that the oligosaccharides primarily consist of galactoglucomannans and arabinoxylans to a lesser extent with degree of polymerization from 3 to 17. During production, inevitable byproducts such as organic acids, insoluble lignin, furfural, and hydroxymethylfurfural are generated. Therefore, different purification steps including centrifugation and ultrafiltration are employed to eliminate these contaminants. 
The obtained purified oligosaccharides were then studied for their prebiotic effect using in vitro models.