Abstract
The stage of compost maturity is an important criterion for its utilization in agriculture (Iglesias Jimenez and Perez Garcia, 1992; Inbar et al., 1990; Sophon, 1978). When applied to soils, fresh (immature) compost can raise microbiological activity and introduce phytotoxic compounds (Viel et al., 1987; Wong, 1985). During composting the organic matter is decomposed and new products are created. The transition forms of these organic substances have different properties (Iglesias Jimenez and Perez Garcia, 1992; Inbar et al., 1990; Sugahara and Inoko, 1981). The humic substances formed during composting carry various functional groups, as well as semiquinone free radicals (SFRs) (Almendroz et al., 1987; Senesi, 1992). The latter are very sensitive to pH, ionic strength, hydrolysis, redox reactions and interaction with metal ions (Senesi et al., 1986, Senesi et al. 1992). These radicals play an important role in the polymerisation and depolymerisation reactions involved in humification. The signal intensity of electron paramagnetic resonance can change during the transformation of organic material.
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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Drozd, J., Jezierski, A., Chen, Y. (1997). Chemical and electron spin resonance properties of municipal solid waste composts. In: Rosen, D., Tel-Or, E., Hadar, Y., Chen, Y. (eds) Modern Agriculture and the Environment. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 71. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5418-5_32
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5418-5_32
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