Modifications of the humic acid fraction in a soil treated with composted municipal refuse

Abstract

The effects on the humic acid fraction of a soil after three years of compost application in a field experiment has been studied. Most of the analytical parameters, such as elementary composition, functional group contents, ratios and spectral characteristics seem to be quite useless for evaluating differences between the structure of the humic acids isolated from soil before and after the application of compost. However, chemical degradations reveal that representative components of the organic matter from compost such as fatty acid series were retained in loosely linked forms in the humic acid fraction of the soil.