title: Isochoric and isobaric freezing of fish muscle.
abstract: We have recently shown that, a living organism, which succumbs to freezing to -4 °C in an isobaric thermodynamic system (constant atmospheric pressure), can survive freezing to -4 °C in an isochoric thermodynamic system (constant volume). It is known that the mechanism of cell damage in an isobaric system is the freezing caused increase in extracellular osmolality, and, the consequent cell dehydration. An explanation for the observed survival during isochoric freezing is the thermodynamic modeling supported hypothesis that, in the isochoric frozen solution the extracellular osmolality is comparable to the cell intracellular osmolality. Therefore, cells in the isochoric frozen organism do not dehydrate, and the tissue maintains its morphological integrity. Comparing the histology of: a) fresh fish white muscle, b) fresh muscle frozen to -5 °C in an isobaric system and c) fresh muscle frozen to -5 °C I in an isochoric system, we find convincing evidence of the mechanism of cell dehydration during isobaric freezing. In contrast, the muscle tissue frozen to -5 °C in an isochoric system appears morphologically identical to fresh tissue, with no evidence of dehydration. This is the first experimental evidence in support of the hypothesis that in isochoric freezing there is no cellular dehydration and therefore the morphology of the frozen tissue remains intact.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Department of Building Services, University of Transilvania, Braşov, Braşov, 500152, Romania. Electronic address: gabrielnastase@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Năstase
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China.
authors.forename: Chenang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lyu
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Gideon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ukpai
authors.affiliation: Department of Building Services, University of Transilvania, Braşov, Braşov, 500152, Romania.
authors.forename: Alexandru
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Şerban
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA. Electronic address: rubinsky@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rubinsky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D002470:Cell Survival; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D003681:Dehydration; D005615:Freezing; D009132:Muscles / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D013816:Thermodynamics; D017210:Tilapia / Q000033:anatomy & histology
keywords: Blue Tilapia; Fish muscle; Histology; Isobaric; Isochoric; Preservation