Effect of extractant and molecular size on the optical and chemical properties of soil humic acids

Abstract

Humic acids extracted from soil with sodium pyrophosphate have greater proportions of lower molecular weight material, less acid-hydrolysable amino acid nitrogen contents, but greater carboxyl contents and extinction values (260 and 450 nm) than humic acids extracted subsequently from the same sample with alkali. Humic acids extracted with alkali from fresh soil samples have intermediate values. Extinction values at 260 nm are directly correlated with carboxyl contents for a given soil. Different crop histories have no significant effect on the measured properties of the extracted humic acids. An alkali-extracted humic acid has been fractionated by gel filtration into seven fractions of different nominal molecular weight ranges. As the molecular weights of the fractions increase, both aliphatic C-H (based on infrared absorption at 2900 cm-1) and acid-hydrolysable amino acid contents increase, whereas extinction values at 260 nm and carboxyl contents decrease. The infrared spectra of the high molecular weight fractions have peaks at 1650 and 1510 cm-1 which correlate with acid-hydrolysable amino acid contents and which correspond to amide I and II bands of peptide bonds. Alkaline hydrolysis to split peptide bonds eliminates both these peaks. The spectra also have peaks at 1720 and 1210 cm-1 which correlate with the carboxyl content.