EFFECT OF FREEZING AND THAWING ON CELL-MEMBRANES OF LENTINUS-EDODES, THE SHIITAKE MUSHROOM

When cell membranes of Lentinus edodes mycelium were rapidly frozen at either 50 or 160-degrees-C/min, viability was lost and this correlate d with rupture of the plasmalemma and residual membrane material and w ith alterations in the organelles. Although with slow cooling (1-degre es-C/min) 80% of the samples recovered viability, some cells still sho wed similar changes to those cooled rapidly, indicating that individua l cells of the mycelium do not respond in the same way.