The determination of urea in soil extracts and related samples—a review
David F. Lambert A , John E. Sherwood A and Paul S. Francis B CA School of Ecology and Environment, Deakin University, Warrnambool, Vic. 3280, Australia.
B School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic. 3217, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: psf@deakin.edu.au
Australian Journal of Soil Research 42(7) 709-717 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR04028
Submitted: 25 March 2004 Accepted: 31 May 2004 Published: 12 November 2004
Abstract
Although the dominant methods for the determination of urea in clinical applications incorporate selective enzymatic hydrolysis of urea, the determination of urea in soil extracts is complicated by the presence of urease inhibitors. The spectrophotometric determination of urea with an acidic solution diacetyl monoxime and semicarbazide is a viable option but traditional manual procedures are time-consuming. New variations on these procedures, based on microplates or flow-injection analysis methodologies, allow a far greater number of samples to be analysed with high precision and sensitivity.
Additional keywords: diacetyl monoxime, urease, fertilisers, microplate, flow-injection analysis.
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