The bio-oil produced by fast pyrolysis is a genuine alternative to fossil resources. However an improvement of its quality is required in order to improve its application. To upgrade the quality of bio-oil, Pressurized Hot Water Treatment (PHWT) has been applied on trembling aspen whole wood chips prior to fast pyrolysis process. The pyrolysis was then performed in an auger reactor at the temperature of 723 K. The effects of PHWT on yields, physicochemical properties, and composition of bio-oils were investigated. Although PHWT does not seem to influence the bio-oil yield, which remains around 56% for both untreated and pre-treated wood, it does improve its quality. The main effect of pre-treatment is the lower water content of the oil obtained from pre-treated wood, which is thus meeting the requirements of ASTM D7544 Standard. Moreover, PHWT appeared to favor the levoglucosan production and to decrease the syringol derivatives content of the bio-oil. The elementary composition revealed an increase of the C/O ratio when the biomass was pre-treated. This is in agreement with the heating value of bio-oil from pre-treated biomass which was found to be higher than that of bio-oil from untreated biomass. (c) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.