Ai et al. (2007) did find that growth of Japanese seabass (Lateolabrax
japonicus) increased with the supplementation of carbohydrase enzymes
(phytase, glucanase, pentosanase, cellulase and xylanase) to
diets where more than 40% of the protein was derived from plant feedstuffs
(soybean meal, rapeseed meal, peanut meal and wheat meal),
suggesting that carbohydrase enzymes were effective in reducing the
anti-nutritional effect of NSP and improving fish performance. Moreover,
the increase in phosphorus retention and protein utilization
suggested that the improved growth was due to increased feed
utilization. The fact that protein utilization was improved by enzyme
supplementation provided good support for the hypothesis that a
protein-sparing effect and perhaps hydrolysis of protein–carbohydrate
complexes occur when exogenous enzymes are added to fish diets