CHARACTERIZATION OF ORGANIC MATERIALS FROM DIFFERENT ORIGINS
The seven samples were: 1. peat from W-Germany, 2. fresh pine litter, 3. not-composted bark, from pine-wood, 4. composted bark from pine-wood (2 years old), 5. urban city waste from Dendermonde (Belgium), 6. city waste from Cairo (Egypt) (6 months old), and 7. city waste from Cairo (Egypt) (14 months old).
The chemical methods were: chemical oxygen demand, organic carbon and organic matter percentage, elementary analysis (N, H, C and O), and functional groups determination (COOH, OH phenolic and total acidity).
The light absorption, in both visible and infrared region, and electronmicroscopy were included in the physical part of study.
Using these methode, the major differences such as the differentiation between composted and non-composted materials could be determined by fulvic acid/humic acid ratio, the oxygen content, the determination of the functional groups, the absorption bands in I.R. spectra and visible lights.
Differences according to the origin of the organic materials could not be assessed properly.
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.1985.172.12
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1985.172.12