OBJECTIVE To evaluate the potential of Polysol, a newly developed preservation solution, in cold storage of small bowel grafts, compared with the current standards, University of Wisconsin solution (UW), Celsior and histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution (HTK). METHODS Male Wistar rats were used as donors. Small bowels were retrieved, flushed and then stored in the respective 4 solutions for 18 h at 4 centigrade. Functional integrity of the grafts was evaluated by isolated reperfusion with oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit buffer at 37 centigrade for 30 min in all 4 groups. RESULTS Polysol preservation exhibited the highest tissue ATP concentration and the lowest release of LDH. Malondialdehyde, an index for tissue lipid peroxidation, was also the lowest in Polysol. Tissue oxygen consumption was significantly higher in Polysol than in the others. Of interest, UW-storage promoted 10-fold higher apoptosis than in the others. Moreover, electron microscopy revealed that the mucosal villi/micro-villi formation and the cell organelles, including mitochondria, were both significantly better preserved in Polysol, while deleterious alterations were apparent in the others, most notably in UW. Although Celsior and HTK exhibited the better trend of results than UW in some parameters, but could not reach the over-all superiority to UW. CONCLUSIONS Cold storage using Polysol resulted in significantly better integrity and function of small bowel grafts than UW. Hence, Polysol may be a novel alternative for the small bowel preservation.