NOVELTY - Extracting useful biochemicals from non-food plant biomass comprises (a) contacting charge with water to yield aqueous extract (13) containing e.g. lignocellulosic residue, (b) separating residue from extract, (c) processing extract to remove larger aromatic molecules, (d) deriving more pure, concentrated sugar solution, (e) hydrolyzing formed sugar stream into e.g. dimeric sugars, (f) removing inhibitory components from sugars as permeate stream (18), (g) concentrating dimeric saccharides, (h) separating permeate stream into individual components, and (i) recovering water from sugar solution.    USE - The processes are useful for: extracting useful biochemicals from a non-food plant biomass; and producing improved wood fiber for product uses from non-food plant biomass (all claimed).    ADVANTAGE - The lignocellulosic residue of step (d1) is significantly reduced in content of hydrophilic components.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Extracting useful biochemicals from a non-food plant biomass comprises: (a) hot-water extraction (11) comprising contacting a charge of the non-food plant biomass material with water in a pressurized vessel at up to 250 degrees C and at a pH below 7 to yield an aqueous extract (13) containing hemicellulosic components and other lignocellulosic derived compounds and a lignocellulosic residue; (b) separating the lignocellulosic residue and other coarse materials from the aqueous extract; (c) processing the aqueous extract to remove larger aromatic and oligomeric molecules; (d) deriving a more pure, concentrated sugar solution from the aqueous extract remaining after step (c) by sundering of oligomeric sugars into a concentrated sugar stream (17) and fermentation of inhibitory compounds into a permeate stream; (e) hydrolyzing the concentrated sugar stream into monomeric and/or dimeric sugars; (f) removing inhibitory components from the hydrolyzed monomeric and/or dimeric sugar as a permeate stream (18); (g) concentrating the monomeric/dimeric saccharides; (h) separating the permeate stream after steps (d) and/or (f) into individual components; and (i) recovering water from the sugar solution after step (f) and from the permeate stream in step (h). An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is also included for producing improved wood fiber for product uses from non-food plant biomass comprising: (a1) hot-water extraction comprising contacting a charge of the non-food plant biomass material with water in a pressurized vessel at up to 250 degrees C and at a pH below 7 to yield an aqueous extract containing hemicellulosic components and a lignocellulosic residue; (b1) separating the aqueous extract from the lignocellulosic residue; (c1) processing the separated aqueous extract; and (d1) processing the lignocellulosic residue to yield useful products.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figure shows a flow chart of a process for producing concentrates and permeates from which useful lignocellulosic-sugar feedstocks, and other lignocellulosic-derived compounds are separated and recovered.    Receiving and pre-processing of available non-food lignocellulosic feedstock (10)    Hot-water extraction process (11)    Aqueous extract (13)    Sugar concentrate (17)    Permeate solution (18)