Abstract
Three-dimensional behavior of ice crystals and cells during the freezing and thawing of biological tissues was investigated microscopically in time-series by using a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) and a fluorescent dye, acridine orange (AO). Fresh tender meat (2nd pectoral muscles) of chicken was stained with the AO in physiological saline with or without 2.00M dimethylsulfoxide, and then frozen and thawed in a uniform temperature under four different thermal protocols. The CLSM noninvasively produced tomograms of the tissues in time-series to clarify the pattern of freezing, morphology of extra- and intracellular ice crystals in the tissues, and the interaction between ice crystals and cells.
