Following the in-depth analysis of the components of soil organic matter, the research sector and the laboratories of Ecosistemi initiated and developed the method of separation of the 2 soil fractions < and > 53 micrometers on which to determine the POM (Particulate Organic Matter) and the MAOM (Mineral Associated Organic Matter)
The commitment of Ecosistemi towards the increasingly in-depth knowledge of soil organic matter has led the research sector to focus on the studies of the POM and MAOM fractions. After the study of numerous bibliography related to the topic and repeated internal tests on samples of natural and reconstituted soil, today the laboratory can boast the possibility of proposing to its customers a further analytical parameter of enormous importance also following the new EU Directive 2025/2360.
The first fraction includes plant and animal residues (remnants of leaves, roots, vegetable whips, exoskeletons, remains of invertebrates, etc.) between 2 mm and 53 micrometres in size; the second is represented by fragments of microbial origin and organic substances physically or chemically associated with mineral particles in the soil. Their distinction includes the time of consumption, the stability and protection of organic carbon in the soil and all the agrarian and environmental correlations linked to it (physical, chemical, biological fertility, state of degradation, etc.).
The analytical procedures carried out have allowed us to arrive at what today we can propose as an accurate analysis service for technicians, scholars and research projects. The refinement activities on analytical methods were carried out, in the early stages, with tests on the different methods of separation of the soil fractions < and > 53 micrometers, to identify the one that could give the best results, then, we proceeded with the analysis of organic carbon, total nitrogen and total limestone on them. The same determinations were carried out on the CRQ internal reference sample, in order to be aware of the accuracy of the analytical data and, above all, of the ability to find in the two separate fractions the same concentration of organic substance present in the fine earth.
The results of the determinations made it possible to evaluate the quantities of the different components of the organic substance in the different types of soils analyzed.
To date, the study is proceeding with qualitative determinations of POM and MAOM with observations at SEM: the morphological analyses concerning these two fractions are mainly aimed at distinguishing the transformation processes of the organic component of the soils and the different correlations with the other soil parameters.
POM fraction
Village of MAOM
The compositions of the various structures identified by the investigations using the EDX AZtec One with Xplore 15 probe for X-ray microanalysis and the determination of the origin of the organic fractions identified will then be distinguished.
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