samples infused with trehalose or AWWE alone (Table 1). Water
starts freezing in the extracellular space causing tissue damage and
the role of AFPs accumulated in the extracellular space for tissue
protection is widely documented (Griffith & Antikainen, 1996).
expected, freezing and thawing untreated strawberries caused the
loss of cell viability in all tissues of the fruit (Fig. 5a). When
trehalose and AWWE were infused alone into the samples prior to
freezing, cell survival was observed in the cortical tissue and the
pith. When the combination of trehalose and AWWE was used,
viable cells appeared from the 2nd mm from the surface, confirming
better cryoprotection of the cortical and vascular tissue,
right bellow the hypodermal layer, and the pith.
The results presented here provided evidence that cell viability
can be preserved in strawberries after one freezing/thawing cycle.
However, the cryoprotection effect was influenced by the heterogeneity
of the tissues in the fruits, and the viability of cells of the
more compact tissues close to the surface (epidermal and probably
part of hypodermal) could not be preserved.