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°C/min, viability was lost and this correlated with rupture of the plasmalemma and residual membrane material and with alterations in the organelles. Although with slow cooling (1°C/min) 80% of the samples recovered viability, some cells still showed similar changes to those cooled rapidly, indicating that individual cells of the mycelium do not respond in the same way.