Five biomasses spruce (Picea abies L.), beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), iroko (Chlophora excelsa L.), albizia (Albizia adianthifolia L.), and corncob (Zea mays ssp.) have been subjected to analytical pyrolysis (Py-GC/MS) and bench-scale pyrolysis with a fluidized bed reactor at 470 °C. The comparison of Py-GC/MS and bench scale results revealed only small differences in the relative concentration of single products mainly acetic acid, hydroxyacetaldehyde, hydroxypropanone, and lignin-derived guaiacyl and syringyl components. For European woods, organic oil yields were approximately 57%, whereas African biomasses yielded between 41 and 48% because of their higher mineral contents. The analysis of bio-oil composition revealed no significant differences between African and European biomasses. Acetic acid, hydroxyacetaldehyde, hydroxypropanone, and levoglucosan were found to be the largest individual components in the volatiles. Bio-oil from corncob, having the lowest lignin content contained high concentration o...