A comparison of the effectiveness of various extractants for determining humus quality in a calcareous soil

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Abstract
Humic substances from an Argentinian chesnut (Mollisol) soil were extracted with Na‐Dowex A‐1 resin, 0.1 N NaOH and 0.1 M Na4P2O7 without decalcification and with 0.1 N NaOH after decalcification. Humic to fulvic (Ch/Cf) acid and E4/E6 ratios of the extracts were determined and compared. A simpler and more rapid procedure than the classical ones for extracting and characterizing soil humus is proposed. The procedure is based on the use of a chelating resin as extractant and on the direct determination of analytical properties of humus in aliquots of the extract.