Table 1 Qualitative appraisal of different specimen preparation protocols with effects on the degree of preservation quality (pres.) and contrasting (cont.) of selected subcellular structures visible at the acquired magnification.

Cellular structures	SCF		GOT		TAMOI		ROUM		NCMIR
Cellular structures	Pres.	Cont.	Pres.	Cont.	Pres.	Cont.	Pres.	Cont.	Pres.	Cont.
Plasma membrane	+	+	+	+	++	++	++	++	+++	+++
Rough endoplasmic reticulum	+	−	+	−	+	+	+++	++	+++	+++
Mitochondria	±	−	±	−	+	+	++	++	+++	+++
Lipid droplets	++	+	+	++	+++	+++	+++	+++	+++	++
Glycogen	nv	nv	nv	nv	+	+	+++	++	+++	+++
Nuclear membrane	+	±	+	+	++	+	+++	++	+++	+++
Chromatin	++	±	++	±	+++	++	+++	+++	+++	+++
Nucleoli	++	+	+	+	++	+	+++	+	+++	+++

Criteria used in assessing fixation quality based on morphology: (nv) not visible; (−) poor; (±) satisfactory; (+) good; (++) very good; (+++) excellent.
SCF, standard chemical fixation; GOT, glutaraldehyde-osmium tetroxide-tannic acid; TAMOI, tannic acid mediated osmium impregnation; ROUM, reduced osmium and en bloc uranyl acetate method; NCMIR, National Centre for Microscopy and Imaging Research.

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