Isolation and Characterization of Soil Fulvic Acid

Fulvic acid was isolated from the agriculture soil of District Naushahro Feroz, Sindh, Pakistan by International Humic Substances Society (IHSS) method. The nutrient contents of the soil like K, Ca, Na, Fe and Zn were determined by using the Atomic Absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The spectroscopic analysis was carried out by studying the UV-Vis, FT-IR and NIR spectra of isolated compounds.  The data has been compared with the literature and correlated. Moisture as well as texture shows good water holding capacity and silt- loam type of soil. pH and EC are indicators of the fertility of soil to be beneficial for plantation. The spectral data (UV-Visible, FTIR and NIR) supports the characteristic functional groups (-COOH, C=O, -OH, -NH2, C=C, CH2 and polysaccharides) present in fulvic acid. E4/E6 values depict its hydrophilic nature, having less aromatic and more aliphatic groups. The presence of metal ions indicates its chelating ability.