Oligosaccharides (OS) production using wood prehydrolysis liquor (PHL) is a crucial subject with significant economic and environmental benefits for wood biorefinery. However, this is a challenging task due to the presence of a diverse palette of lignin-derived contaminants. In this work, lignin contaminants were classified into macro-lignin particles (MLPs), amphiphiliclignin derivatives (ALDs) and small lignin fragments (SLFs) based on their colloidal and molecular behaviors. Accordingly, a process was developed to destabilize ALDs and MPLs synergistically by applying polycations at an elevated pH, which achieved 57.8% lignin removal. The remaining SLFs were adsorbed by macroporous resin with pore size of 20 nm at least, leading to 95.2% of final lignin removal and 66.6% of OS recovery. This study has both scientific and practical significance for wood biorefinery because of the low cost of chemicals employed and the regeneration ability of macroporous resin. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.