**11.3 Vitrification**

However, two more practical approaches in biotechnology may lead to widespread applications of conservation of germplasm of plants to reduce damage from abrupt cooling. This includes vitrification by using cryoprotectants mixture and another is an encapsulation of a sample with gel which is dehydrated later on as described above. For the process of vitrification, the sample is submerged in a cryoprotectants mixture which results in the promotion of conservation of cellular water into noncrystal-like solids which later cool rapidly. In the case of encapsulation, the sample material such as root or shoot tip is dipped in a gel to form an artificial seed-like structure which is then dehydrated before cooling. The gel performs the function of protection against physical damage and is more robust than shoot tip or embryo culture. Despite the presence of optimistic methodologies using plant tissues, further research is required to find the development of preservation to that available for animal and human embryos. But there exist many barriers that prevent the utilization of technology in one or other way.

## **11.4 Pretreatment**

The process involves regrowth which involves the application of additives to enhance growth e.g. abscisic acid etc. [61]. On the other hand, cryoprotectants act as an anti-freeze, increases viscosity, and prevents damage which resulted wither due to the formation of ice crystals during cryopreservation or due to an increase in intracellular concentration of solutes before or during the process of freezing as a result of dehydration.
