Recent advances, challenges and functional applications of antifreeze protein in food industry

Summary Freezing is a common food preservation method that can extend the shelf life of food, but the ice crystals and recrystallisation during freezing, storage and transportation cause significant damage to frozen food. Antifreeze proteins are a class of proteins that widely exist in organisms living in cold conditions, such as fish, insects, plants and microorganisms in Antarctica and other cold regions. Antifreeze proteins can reduce the freezing point of water, inhibit recrystallisation effects, modify ice crystal morphology and effectively suppress the quality deterioration caused by ice crystals during food freezing. This review comprehensively introduces the source, antifreeze mechanism, application in food, influencing factors and regulating methods of antifreeze activity of antifreeze proteins, as well as the limitations of antifreeze proteins. It also looks forward to the future application of antifreeze proteins in food.