Abstract: Xylo-oligosaccharides(XOS), as one of the most effective prebiotics, are widely applied in medicine and health production, food additive, pet food and feed, etc. The production of XOS by enzymatic hydrolysis has the disadvantages of low efficiency, long production cycle and high cost, which is difficult for large-scale industrial production. Therefore, non-enzymatic production of XOS has become a hot spot in recent years. This paper introduced the chemical structure, physicochemical properties and biological properties of XOS. Then, the process, technological characteristics, XOS yield and relative merits of non-enzymatic catalysis methods(such as acid hydrolysis, steam explosion, autohydrolysis, subcritical CO₂ and inorganic salt treatment) were systematically summarized. Finally, the suggestions for future research on XOS were provided based on the understanding of problems existing in the current research.