When I asked about [food preservation](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/184208/long-term-food-preservation-techniques-200-300-years-preferably-in-a-form-of-m) for 2-3 centuries, some commenters insisted that if I have technologies to preserve living humans for that long I should have no problems preserving food (with almost intact nutritional values). That made me wonder if this idea is actually true.

Living organisms have a lot of mechanisms that keep them functioning for extended periods of time, prevent decay, deal with infections, and even repair mechanical damage. Many animals and plants can live for decades while exposed to elements, pests, bacteria, viri, and physical trauma. Their chemistry stays more or less stable over that time. But once they are dead, it takes just a bit of time for them to decay (the exact time depends on many factors, e.g. environmental conditions, chemical preservatives concentration in tissues, tissue types).

**Question:**

**Dead tissue or a living organism (as classes, not specific types of tissue or organisms), which is easier to preserve for 2 centuries in a condition *as close to original as possible*? (with focus on biochemistry rather than the preservation of a specific tissue)**

'Preservation' in my question is used in this sense:

> 
> [the activity or process of keeping something valued alive, intact, or free from damage or decay](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preservation)
> 
> 
> 

with emphasis on '*free from damage or decay*'.

*This question is not limited to currently existing technologies. Developing technologies or theorised technologies are fine, as long as they have solid scientific backing. For example, genetic engineering is fine (within reason), cryosleep is not (unless you provide citations for successful reanimation after at least a year of storage).*

***Edit***: When I am talking about preservation in a condition as close to original as possible I mean exactly it. If you are preserving a piece of meat it should stay a piece of meat after 2 centuries (or can be reconstructed as such if some tricky procedure is used; ideally it should have the same texture, taste, and nutritional value since this is the case for living organisms). Most of the chemistry and physical properties should stay the same at the time of examination (before preservation and once it is finished). The sample does not have to consist of exactly the same physical atoms, molecules, or cells (it is not possible for a living organism) but it should be recognised as the same tissue/organism in close to original condition by an average human and have the same functionality.

Please assume that whatever conditions are needed for preservation can be maintained for the duration of the preservation experiment without interruption.

***Edit 2:*** **I am much more interested in a comparison between arresting decay in dead tissues and sustaining (or improving) natural bioprocesses in live organisms.**

I also want to note that freezing does not leave organic matter intact. There is damage associated with freezing/thawing that has to be quantified and figured in. I wrote about it and other aspects of food preservation in my [notes](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/a/184501/78906) for another question.

***Edit 3:*** I am looking for **hard science** with citations, numbers, and figures. I appreciate general thoughts on the subject, but it is really hard to compare the advantages and disadvantages of different solutions and approaches if I have nothing but words to rely on.

I do use 'food test' (if something was edible before it should keep the same nutritional values after 2-3 centuries) because it is an easy way to test many answers, but this is not a question about food preservation. ***The type of organic material does not matter at all, what is really important is its integrity and physical properties, including biochemistry.***

This is not a museum project. All organics should be usable in a regular manner after 2-3 centuries.