The antifreeze activity and physicochemical properties of Litopenaeus vannamei head autolysate

Litopenaeus vannamei heads were autolysed at a constant temperature of 50 °C, pH 7.0 for a maximum duration of 5 h, and the antifreeze activity and physicochemical properties of the head autolysates were determined. Thermal hysteresis (TH) was used as an index for determining the antifreeze activity of the shrimp head autolysates. The highest thermal hysteresis activity was 1.82 °C which was measured in the 5 h-shrimp head autolysate. The highest negative zeta potential value (−41.06 ± 2.08 mV) and surface hydrophobicity (295.575 ± 9.7819) were in the 5 and 1.5 h autolysate groups, respectively. Generally, <2000 Da components accounted for over 85% of the total molecular weight in all shrimp head autolysate groups. Pearson correlation analysis was used to investigate how physicochemical properties influenced the thermal hysteresis index. Although at varying degrees, the analysis confirmed that a positive correlation existed between TH activity and molecular weight, hydrophobic amino acid content, and surface hydrophobicity. A negative correlation existed between TH activity and zeta potential, and hydrophilic amino acids. The findings of our study suggest that Litopenaeus vannamei head autolysate has a potential antifreeze effect and that the physicochemical properties influence its thermal hysteresis.