전통적으로 사용되어온 β-glucan에 대한 기초적 연구로서 본 실험은 β-glucan의 영양학적 성분을 분석하고 이를 투여했을 때 흰쥐의 발육에 미치는 영향에 대하여 고찰하였다. SD종 5주령의 어린 쥐를 각각 5마리씩 배치하였고, β-glucan을 급여하지않은 대조군, β-glucan을 D.W-(distilled water)에 용해시켜 저용량 (하루 사료섭취량의 0.2%의 β-glucan), 중간용량 (하루 사료섭취량의 1%의 β-glucan), 고용량 (하루 사료섭취량의 5%의 β-glucan) 으로 구분하여 6주간 사육하였으며, 실험쥐의 체중, 식이섭취량, 식이효율, 장기발육 및 혈액 형상에 대하여 조사하였다. 실험군 모두에서 실험쥐의 시험 종료시 평균체중과 식이섭취량의 통계적 유의차는 발견되지않았다. 그리고 간, 심장, 신장, 및 위장 등의 장기무게와 백혈구, 적혈구, 혈색소, 헤마토크릿 및 혈소판 등의 혈액학적 지수에 있어서도 통계적 유의차가 발견되지 않았다. 즉 β-glucan식이로 이상적으로 장기가 비대해지거나 억제됨 없이 정상적 발육이 이루어졌으며, 이상현상없이 정상적 혈액학적 지수를 나타내었다. 따라서 본 연구의 결과는 β-glucan이 생리대사에 무해하고 안전하며, 면역력증진 효능에 대한 세부적 및 과학적 규명과 함께 면역력증강 사료첨가제로 개발 필요성 및 가능성을 시사한다.To investigate the toxicological effects of β-glucan, we performed basic studying on β-glucan in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Standard endpoints in this study included mortality, clinical observations, changes of body weights, analysis on food consumption, ophthalmoscopic examination, hematologic examination, serum biochemistry, analysis of organ weights, gross anatomic pathology and histopathology. No clinical signs and mortality were observed in animals treated with beta-glucan throughout the experimental period. The average body weight of each treatment groups showed similar levels at end of experiment. There were no treatment-related changes in mortality, body weights changes, food consumption, ophthalmoscopic examination. Although there were statistically significant differences between the control and treated groups in some relative and absolute organ weights, and hematological and biochemical analysis, the data were in biologically normal ranges and did not show a dose-dependent manner. In the morphological change, hepatic tissue were not showed ballooning degeneration and irregular arrangement of hepatic cell in β-glucan treatment groups with control group. Also, organs weights (liver, heart, kidney and stomach) and hematological indices (WBC, RBC, Hb, Hct and Platelet) did not show statistically significant differences among the experimental groups. In summary of these results, there were no changes in mortality, mean body weight, clinical signs, food consumption. There were no changes in ophthalmological examination, hematology, blood chemistry, necropsy and histopathology. In conclusion, although further investigation of glucan should be performed in the functions registered in many ancient literatures, β-glucan is physiologically safe and may have potential as candidate food for human health.