Nanocellulose was produced from cotton lint and it was used as an agent of cryoprotective medium. The
microstructures and surface morphologies were examined by field emission scanning electron and
atomic force microscopes. Particles had a width of less than 50 nm and the length of hundreds of
nanometers to several micrometers. According to the results of wide-angle X-ray diffraction, crystalline
index was 74.07% and the average thickness of nanocellulose was 3.18 nm. Response surface coefficients
and P values showed that the viability of Lactobacillus plantarum after freeze drying was highly
dependent on nanocellulose concentration (P < 0.01). The highest viability of L. plantarum was obtained
at the concentration of skim milk 13.75%, the concentration of trehalose 20.5% and the concentration of
nanocellulose 13.75%. Under the optimized conditions, the predicted survival rate and observed experimental
values for L. Plantarum, were 1.93 ± 0.1 109 CFU/ml and 1.85 ± 0.1 109 CFU/ml, respectively