Soil Fertility and Nutrient management (1+1)

Organic matter and its composition

Soil organic matter is a complex matter obtained from the plants and animal residues containing both organic and inorganic chemical compounds.

Composition of Organic matter  
A. Organic compounds
1. Nitrogenous compounds
eg: Amine, amide compounds and amino acids (water soluble) proteins (simple, combined, derived), peptone, purine, peptide, nucleoprotein, protease, pyridine, alkaloid, pirimidin.
2. Non nitrogenous compounds

Eg : -Carbohydrates (mono, di, poly and oligosaccharides, amino sugars, sugar acids, sugar alcohol),lignin (aliphatic hydroxyl and carbonyl group found), Cellulose and hemicelluloses, tannin, fat, wax and resin, pigments, organic acids (acetic, oxalic, saccharic, propionic, benzoic, pomitic), organic phosphorus compounds (nucleic acids, phospholipids, inositol phosphate) and organic sulphur compounds (cystein, cystine, methionine).
B. Inorganic compounds
Organic matter contains several inorganic elements such as H, O, N, P, Ca, Mg, S, Na, K, Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Mo, Si, B, Co, Cl etc. All these are in metallic complex form hence organic matter is water insoluble and do not destroy by leaching.