Using vitrification and encapsulation-vitrification protocols, we successfully cryopreserved shoot apices from in-vitro plants of different Gentiana cultivars/lines. Although both protocols gave high survival percentages after storage in liquid nitrogen, the encapsulationvitrification protocol had several distinct advantages over the vitrification protocol: (i) survival was higher under optimal conditions, (ii) the range of optimal exposure periods to the plant vitrification solution 2 (PVS2) was broader, and (iii) regrowth of cryopreserved shoot apices was apparently more vigorous and faster. Shoot apices from ten cultivars/lines of three Gentiana species (G. scabra , G. triflora , and G. pneumonanthe) were successfully cryopreserved using the two protocols with average survival of 49.0% and 73.7% for vitrification and encapsulation-vitrification, respectively . These results indicate that the two protocols optimized in the present study are promising for cryopreservation of a wide range of Gentiana genetic resources.