Morphological investigations of disaccharide molecules for growth inhibition of ice crystals

Freezing of solutions including disaccharides (trehalose, sucrose, and maltose) has been investigated by microscopic observations of freeze-fractured replicas using FE-TEM. Three typical features were observed: the smooth surface considered as the ice crystal, fine particles as the precipitated disaccharide molecules, and remaining part as the glass state of the solution. The expanded observations of fine particle and its distribution investigations suggested that it was larger than 10 nm in size and averaged approximately 20–30 nm in diameter. The smallest particle was estimated to include several hundred disaccharide molecules. Based on systematic observations of trehalose solutions regarding concentrations and freezing rates, we concluded that ice crystal growth was inhibited by trehalose molecules. Since the ice crystal size reduced exponentially with increase in trehalose concentration, we could control ice crystal size formed in the frozen material. The growth inhibition of ice crystals with trehalose resulted both from a reduction in the free water in the solution due to a significant hydration effect and from an enhancement of nucleation of the ice crystals. It was confirmed that trehalose was more effective than the other disaccharide solutions examined for inhibiting the growth of ice crystals.