Garter Snake Forum - View Single Post - Garter snake food

Cazador · 01-27-2007, 02:11 PM

Hi Michelle,

I just wanted to very clearly dispell the notion that freezing destroys the thiaminase enzyme. It definitely does not. Heating above 180F (82C) for at least 5 minutes destroys this enzyme.

In biology, if you want to preserve a sample, you freeze it. If you want to destroy a sample, you heat it. We often preserve samples at -80C for as much as two years if we can't do the analysis right away. Even after this amount of time, the samples are still in perfect shape for whatever analysis we want to perform (cellular, enzymatic, hormonal...). Freezing is obviously effective at killing living organisms, which is why it's so useful to kill many parasites and pathogens. Yet many bacteria and spores still aren't killed by freezing.

Rick

01-27-2007, 02:11 PM	#9 (permalink)
Cazador Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Alaska, USA Posts: 1,609 Country:	Re: Garter snake food - fish questions. Hi Michelle, I just wanted to very clearly dispell the notion that freezing destroys the thiaminase enzyme. It definitely does not. Heating above 180F (82C) for at least 5 minutes destroys this enzyme. In biology, if you want to preserve a sample, you freeze it. If you want to destroy a sample, you heat it. We often preserve samples at -80C for as much as two years if we can't do the analysis right away. Even after this amount of time, the samples are still in perfect shape for whatever analysis we want to perform (cellular, enzymatic, hormonal...). Freezing is obviously effective at killing living organisms, which is why it's so useful to kill many parasites and pathogens. Yet many bacteria and spores still aren't killed by freezing. Rick Last edited by Cazador : 02-02-2007 at 08:54 PM.