Vol.26 No.4（2004 August）：413-416

Calorimetric Analysis of Antifreeze Activity and the Absorption-inhibition Mechanism of Antifreeze Protein

He-Sheng Ren*, Na-Fei Xu, Ze-Zhao Hua

（Institute of Thermal Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China）

Abstract: The activity of antifreeze protein (AFP) in Tenebrio molitor is analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It is shown that the antifreeze activity of AFP increases with decrease of initial ice crystal, and increase of concentration of AFP. These results are accordant with the absorption-inhibition mechanism of AFP.

Key words: antifreeze protein (AFP); thermal hysteresis; differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)

*Corresponding author. Tel: 86-21-65681990, Fax: 86-2165682376, E-mail: hsrenb@online.sh.cn