β-1-->3-glucans are involved in cell structure and food storage in bacteria, fungi and higher plants. β-1--->3-glucans and its oligomers has lot of industrial applications such as : gelling material to improve the textural quality, water-holding capacity and thermal stability of various foods such as soybean curd, sweet bean paste jelly, boiled fish paste, noodles, sausages, jellies, and jams. Glucans also act as immunostimulator. In our lab we intend to screen bacteria producing extracellular beta glucans and their oligomers and optimize the process for production in large scale. In addition, we also study the degradation of glucans by chemical and enzymatic methods to obtain oligomers for industrial applications.