Recent evidence has demonstrated that some AFPs can also affect
water structure at some distance from the actual surface of the
AFP and this may also be important in the antifreeze capabilities of
these proteins.
By conventional definition, the freezing and melting points of an
aqueous sample are identical. The temperature at which a small
crystal will melt completely if the temperature is raised slightly is
the melting point and the temperature at which the crystal will
begin to grow as the temperature is lowered slightly is the freezing point. However, this is not the case if antifreeze proteins are
present. AFPs have only a small effect on the normal melting point
of water, raising it slightly