Abstract
In the present paper, deleterious problems during thawing frozen biomaterials and living cells were discussed. During the frozen storage and thawing, structural change of ice grains in a frozen biomaterial, so called recrystallization, fractures cells or deforms the matrix by smashing and forming intracellular ice. Dielectric spectroscopy may allow a nondestructive method to detect such a structural change of ice grains especially during frozen storage. Effects of extracellular saccharide as a convenient cryoprotectant on intracellular ice formation during freezing and thawing were also discussed.
