Composition of organic matter in particle size fractionated pig slurry

Pig slurry is a heterogeneous mixture of different particle sizes that will have different mobility in soil. Therefore, a physically fractionated pig slurry sample was analysed, e.g. using pyrolysis-field ionisation mass spectrometry (Py-FIMS) in an effort to identify relationships between particle size and composition of organic matter. The presumably most mobile fractions in soils (<63 microm) accounted for approximately 50% of slurry dry matter and were dominated by lignins, and N-containing compounds. Sterols were especially abundant in the larger-sized fractions, which corresponds to their reported distribution in soils and surface waters. The averaged molecular masses indicated similarities of fractions <10 microm to aquatic humic substances and increasing content of plant material with increasing particle size. A statistical analysis of the compound class distribution revealed that the analysis of three particle size fractions is essential for the assessment of the composition and properties of slurry constituents.