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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Quantification of Humic and Fulvic Acids in Humate Ores, DOC, Humified Materials and Humic Substance-Containing Commercial Products
Published on: March 18, 2022
The structural composition of humic compounds as indicator of organic carbon sources
N Calace1, M Capolei, M Lucchese
1Department of Chemistry, University of Rome, 'La Sapienza', Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Abstract:
Various analytical techniques ((13)C-NMR, FTIR, elemental analysis) have been used to study the structures of humic compounds present in the sediments of Martignano lake located 50 km from Roma city (Italy). The total amount of humic compounds present in the upper layer of sediments is practically constant; instead, considering humic (HA) and fulvic acids (FA) separately, it can be noticed that while HA increase remarkably from A(1) to A(3), FA diminish, probably as a result of the continuous transformation of algal debris, present in large amount in A(1), from compounds which are in an early stage of decomposition to more highly degraded organic matter. In deeper layers the percentage both of HA and FA is constant and slightly lower than that found in the upper layer, except for two sampling points. In these stations the amount of both HA and FA are very high and the carbohydrate peak areas of HA and FA increase along with the depth, reflecting the presence of a well localized source of organic carbon or different environmental conditions.
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