the control samples, the freezing and thawing steps were omit- ted. The freezing rates under the different conditions were cal Sp culated by taking the difference between the initial freezing by the freezing time, as defined by the International Institute of Su Refrigeration(international Institute of Refrigeration 1986) bre able 1). For ease of discussion, arbitrary terms'slow'mod we erate' and'fast" were used to categorize the freezing treatments. cal