Assessment of humification degree of dissolved organic matter from different composts using fluorescence spectroscopy technology

This study was conducted to assess the degree of humification in dissolved organic matter (DOM) from different composts, and their environmental impact after soil amending based on fluorescence measurements (emission, excitation, synchronous scan, and excitation-emission matrix [EEM]). The compost sources studied included dairy cattle manure (DCM), kitchen waste (MW), cabbage waste (CW), tomato stem waste (TSW), municipal solid waste (MSW), green waste (GW), chicken manure (CM), and peat (P). Conventional and EEM fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that the DOM of these composts contained compounds similar in structure but comparisons between conventional fluorescence parameters and fluorescence regional integration of EEM fluorescence spectra showed that the DOM was different in degree of humification. Regression analysis demonstrated significant corrections between major fluorescence parameters. In hierarchical cluster analysis, these composts were clustered into 2 groups and 4 subgroups, and projection pursuit regression analysis further ranked the compost sources as KW, CW, P> CM, DCM, TW, GW> MSW in their degree of humification in DOM. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.