Papermaking additive compositions and methods and uses thereof

1. A liquid composition comprising a treated, fermented yeast supernatant including bio-nutrients, minerals and amino acids, and about 1% to about 15% by weight of one or more nonionic surfactants, wherein the composition lacks active enzymes contributed by yeast during fermentation due to the treatment, and wherein the composition has a pH of about 2.5 to about 5.0.

2. The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the treated, fermented yeast supernatant is produced from a culture containing yeast belonging to the genus Brettanomyces, Candida, Cyberlindnera, Cystofilobasidium, Debaryomyces, Dekkera, Geotrichum, Issatchenkia, Kazachstania, Kloeckera, Kluyveromyces, Pichia, Rhodosporidium, Rhodotorula, Saccharomyces, Schizosaccharomyces, Thrichosporon, Torulaspora, Torulopsis, Yarrowia, Zygosaccharomyces , or Zygotorulaspora.

3. The liquid composition according to claim 1 , comprising at most 95% by weight of the treated, fermented yeast supernatant.

4. The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more nonionic surfactants comprises a polyether nonionic surfactant, a polyhydroxyl nonionic surfactant, and/or a biosurfactant.

5. The liquid composition according to claim 4 , wherein the polyhydroxyl nonionic surfactant comprises a sucrose ester, an ethoxylated sucrose ester, a sorbital ester, an ethoxylated sorbital ester, an alkyl glucoside, an ethoxylated alkyl glucoside, a polyglycerol ester, or an ethoxylated polyglycerol ester.

6. The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more nonionic surfactants comprise an amine oxide, an ethoxylated alcohol, an ethoxylated aliphatic alcohol, an alkylamine, an ethoxylated alkylamine, an ethoxylated alkyl phenol, an alkyl polysaccharide, an ethoxylated alkyl polysaccharide, an ethoxylated fatty acid, an ethoxylated fatty alcohol, or an ethoxylated fatty amine, or a nonionic surfactant having the general formula of H(OCH 2 CH 2 ) x OC 6 H 4 R 1 , H(OCH 2 CH 2 ) x OR 2 , or H(OCH 2 CH 2 ) x OC(O)R 2 , wherein x represents the number of moles of ethylene oxide added to an alkyl phenol and/or a fatty alcohol or a fatty acid, R 1 represents a long chain alkyl group and, R 2 represents a long chain aliphatic group.

7. The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more nonionic surfactants is an ethoxylated nonyl phenol, an ethoxylated octyl phenol, an ethoxylated ceto-oleyl alcohol, an ethoxylated ceto-stearyl alcohol, an ethoxylated decyl alcohol, an ethoxylated dodecyl alcohol, an ethoxylated tridecyl alcohol, or an ethoxylated castor oil.

8. The liquid composition according to claim 1 , comprising from about 5% to about 13% by weight of the one or more nonionic surfactants.

9. The liquid composition according to claim 8 , comprising from about 7% to about 11% by weight of the one or more nonionic surfactants.

10. The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the pH is at most 4.5.

11. The liquid composition according to claim 1 , wherein the treated, fermented yeast supernatant is produced from a culture containing yeast belonging to the genus Saccharomyces.

12. The liquid composition according to claim 11 , wherein the yeast is Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

13. The liquid composition according to claim 11 , comprising from about 5% to about 13% by weight of the one or more nonionic surfactants.

14. The liquid composition according to claim 13 , comprising from about 7% to about 11% by weight of the one or more nonionic surfactants.

15. The liquid composition according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more nonionic surfactants comprise an alkylphenol ethoxylate or a fatty acid ethoxylate.

16. The liquid composition according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more nonionic surfactants comprise an ethoxylated nonyl phenol, an ethoxylated octyl phenol, an ethoxylated ceto-oleyl alcohol, an ethoxylated ceto-stearyl alcohol, an ethoxylated decyl alcohol, an ethoxylated dodecyl alcohol, an ethoxylated tridecyl alcohol, or an ethoxylated castor oil.

17. The liquid composition according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more nonionic surfactants is a biosurfactant.

18. A method of separating fibers from a pulp, the method comprising applying an effective amount of a liquid composition as defined in claim 1 to the pulp during a pulping and/or a paper production phase, wherein the application results in increased separation of cellulose fibers from raw materials present in the pulp.

19. A method of removing ink from a pulp and/or a paper material, the method comprising applying an effective amount of a papermaking additive composition as defined in claim 1 to the pulp during a pulping and/or a paper production phase, wherein the application results in removal of the ink from the pulp and/or paper material.