Hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass by hot-compressed water is creating an opportunity to obtain saccharides from both hemicelluloses and cellulose for biofuel production as well as saccharides production. In this work, the hydrolysis of Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) by batch and semi-flow hot-compressed water was investigated. After the treatments, the monosaccharides, oligosaccharides and decomposition products in water-soluble portion were determined, while the structural variation as well as chemical composition of residue was analyzed. The results demonstrated that the production of total saccharides increased with the temperature for both batch and semi-flow hot-compressed water treatments. The maximum yield of total saccharides was achieved at 250 degrees C when treated by semi-flow hot-compressed water, which was higher than the corresponding maximum production of saccharides obtained at 190 degrees C when treated by batch hot-compressed water. The xyloo-ligosaccharides which came from hemicelluloses were produced until the temperature was higher than 230 degrees C when treated by batch hot-compressed water, while they were produced until 270 degrees C when treated by semi-flow hot-compressed water. On the other hand, the cellooligosaccharides which came from cellulose began to produce from 170 degrees C when treated by batch hot-compressed water, while they were not produced below 210 degrees C when treated by semi-flow hot-compressed water. In conclusion, both batch and semi-flow hot-compressed water can be used to hydrolyze hemicelluloses though at different optimal temperature, while semi-flow hot-compressed water was better than batch hot-compressed water for hydrolysis of cellulose. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.