Technical Abstract: Oxidative processes involved in stresses such as cold temperatures can decrease the viability of plant tissues. Antioxidants that counteract these oxidative reactions could improve plant viability following the stresses involved in cryopreservation. We studied the effects of exogenous vitamin E (Vit E) and ascorbic acid (AA) added at four critical points of the cryopreservation process (pretreatment, loading, rinsing, recovery medium). Shoot tips of two blackberry cultivars were cold acclimated, then cryopreserved using a PVS2 vitrification protocol. Shoot tips (0.8 - 1 mm) of two Rubus hybrid cultivars were cold acclimated, then cryopreserved. Vit E added to the preculture medium for 48 h prior to liquid nitrogen exposure or to the rinse solution following rewarming significantly (P<0.0001) improved recovery of shoots compared to shoot tips without Vit E. There were no significant improvements with Vit E in the loading solution or the regrowth medium. Recovery of shoot tips treated with AA at three critical points was significantly better than untreated tissues. Recovery of shoot tips on standard regrowth medium with AA was significantly reduced compared to the recovery of untreated shoot tips. Regrowth medium without iron and with AA significantly improved regrowth compared to untreated shoot tips on either recovery medium. Combinations of Vit E and AA produced significant improvements in recovery at the four critical points compared with the untreated shoot tips, but the combination treatment was not significantly different from treatment with AA alone. Although treatments were effective at several critical points, we recommend adding AA to the pretreatment medium as the most convenient for the PVS2 vitrification process.